


Fateful Duty

by RavusGrey



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, All four sides of the love square, Bromance, Canon Divergence, F/M, Friendship, Menstruation, Puberty Themes, Summer Vacation, Teen Romance, Tom and Sabine are precious, awkward teenagers, early identity reveal, ridiculous akuma ocs, starts immediately after season 1 and volpina
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-07 01:03:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8776990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavusGrey/pseuds/RavusGrey
Summary: (On Hiatus while I complete a more popular ML fic.) As of January 2018: Officially Discontinued due to dropped interest in source material. After Ladybug and Chat Noir defeated Volpina, Master Fu senses greater danger on the horizon and our heroes must be prepared. However, behind the masks, the heroes are only fifteen years old and they have a lot to learn before they are ready to face Hawkmoth directly. Time is no longer a luxury as new and old faces join the battle. The heroes must work together more efficiently to learn the secrets surrounding the Miraculous items and Hawkmoth. In the face of adversity, will they be prepared to make a choice?The first step Ladybug must come to terms with is learning her and Chat Noir’s secret identities might be more of a hindrance instead of a safeguard to their partnership.Side pairings include: DJWifi (Nino/Alya)





	1. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien had different perspectives in the aftermath of the most recent battle.

Marinette’s thoughts were still swimming from the day’s events as she made her way along the sidewalk to a location she already knew. Tikki wanted her to go there once before.  She held the thick book close to her chest and hoped Adrien would not miss it. If she got the chance to return it to him, she would.

Today was a rollercoaster…

Ladybug and Chat Noir had managed to save Paris and keep their Miraculous items safe once again that afternoon. Volpina had been a tricky foe. At least her akuma was embedded in an obvious place, right in the foxtail necklace hanging from the chain around her neck.

To think it all started early this morning when Lila spread all sorts of wonderful rumors about herself, including the one that ticked off Marinette. She claimed to be good friends with Ladybug, not only to Alya, but to Adrien too. If Ladybug was tight with any civilians, it would have been those two, not Lila, whom she had never met before.

Then Lila was all over Adrien.

Lila’s blatant flirting…

It was worse and more transparent than Chat Noir’s flirts. He was clearly in jest with his light and pleasant words, and never with any true pressure behind them or his cocky attitude. Ladybug was sure he was just trying to make her smile and laugh to take the pressure off during otherwise risky situations. Sometimes it worked after all, and instead of a sigh or an eye-roll, she would laugh and he would light up and smile right back. It made things more fun.

Now if only Chat Noir’s timing was better. It was not always a good time to flirt, banter, and crack puns.

After Lila got Adrien to agree to meet in the park, Marinette messed up big time when she confronted Lila like she had. Surely she could have more tact than that. Today was her fault. Adrien was then targeted by an angry akumaized girl, Chat Noir was forced to chase a fake Hawkmoth around Paris and then still keep a level head when Ladybug couldn’t stand the sight of Adrien about to be dropped from the Eiffel Tower and almost forfeited her Miraculous.

In the end, it turned out Adrien was okay and the day was saved like always.

But still…

Today was a failure.

Ladybug, Marinette, knew she could not lose her cool like that again. It was embarrassing in hindsight. She got jealous, possessive, and was not cool at all today. That was not how she wanted Adrien to see her. She never wanted to treat others like she had today.

She was disappointed in herself.

Even though she apologized to Lila, she could tell Lila was not going to let it go yet. Marinette hoped she would with time, after she cooled down some more. Lila seemed to like Ladybug before the mess started, so maybe once her own embarrassment wore off, she would return to normal… even if that normal meant lying all the time. Marinette hoped this incident taught her a lesson about honesty so at least something good came from all of it.

“It’s right here!” Tikki’s tiny voice called up from Marinette’s purse.

Marinette looked up and knew she was right. She had been here once before. It was not far from her parent’s bakery at all, just a ten minute walk away.

When Marinette entered the first door, into the building’s tiny lobby, Tikki glided up and led the way to another door and gestured it. Marinette blinked and then swallowed.

Stepping forward, she carefully opened the door a little, not really sure how she was supposed to introduce herself or what she was going to say.

In the center of the Chinese massage therapy parlor, was the man who healed Tikki when she caught a nasty cold before. He was just sitting quietly, not doing anything, almost like he was waiting.

Before Marinette even stepped in, he looked up. “Hello, Ladybug,” he said with a smile and completely relaxed.

No introduction needed.

When Tikki flew on ahead, Marinette followed and stopped before the man. Marinette didn’t know what to say. Tikki seemed to know him well. She flew right up to him.

“I am glad to see you are doing well,” he said. “And how are you, Tikki?” he asked, his smiled never leaving his face.

“I am well cared for,” she said and turned to meet Marinette’s eyes. “We brought the book,” she said.

The man looked slightly surprised for a moment. “Ah, good,” he said. “So that is why you have come.”

Tikki nodded. “I decided it was time for you to meet officially,” she explained.

“I agree,” he said calmly and they both turned their attention onto Marinette, who simply stood there. “I am known as Master Fu, I am the guardian of the remaining Miraculous items, please sit down, there is no need to introduce yourself.”

Marinette did as she was told, and sat down on her knees and heels. “This book… is it really important?” she asked.

“It contains information about the Miraculous items, ancient secrets which are encoded,” he explained. “May I ask; where did you find it?”

Marinette glanced at Tikki, so the kwami flew up to her and rested on her shoulder. “I didn’t really find it, it belongs to a friend of mine from school,” she began. “I saw him with it this morning, but then Lila swiped it, so I followed her and saw her toss it in the trash and Tikki said we should bring it here.”

Master Fu’s eyes widened. “I see,” he said and stroked his beard. “Then it is good you were there to rescue it. May I?”

Marinette nodded and carefully handed the book to him. It was then a green kwami flew up and looked over Master Fu’s shoulder as he opened it to the first page. It looked much like Tikki, the only kwami Marinette knew, but had a single antenna on top of its head, yellow eyes, and turtle shell on its back.

The two nodded to each other and Master Fu put the book down in front of him before both looked back to Marinette.

“I am sure you have many questions, but first,” Master Fu began. “This is Wayzz, he is the turtle kwami of the bracelet.” He lifted his wrist to show a teal colored jewel pressed to the top of his wrist. Just like her earrings, it was completely inconspicuous.

“It is a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance,” Wayzz said with a respectful bow of his head.

Marinette was quick to mirror the gesture. “It’s nice to meet you too,” she said. “I’ve never met another kwami before.”

Master Fu and Wayzz shared a brief look. “What about Plagg?”

“Plague?” Marinette blinked again.

Tikki giggled. “Plagg is the black cat kwami, my partner, and the partner of Chat Noir,” she said.

“Oh, I should have guessed,” she said. “Chat Noir and I haven’t talked about our kwami at all, since he has a miraculous like me, of course a kwami is with him too.” She felt a little foolish. It just showed how little thought she had put into the matter.

“I see.” Master Fu stroked his beard again as he thought. “There are matters I would like to discuss with both of you, would you mind asking him to meet here on my behalf?”

“Um sure, I’ll tell him as soon as I see him again,” Marinette nodded.

Wayzz floated forwarded a bit. “I believe my master would like you to contact him now,” he said.

Tikki shot up. “Ladybug and Chat Noir have kept their identities secret, we will not see him until there is another akuma attack.”

“How inconvenient,” Wayzz sighed. “Very well.”

Marinette took in what was being said. “Should I know him personally?” she finally asked. “I thought we had to keep our identities a secret.”

Master Fu nodded slowly. “The identity of a Miraculous hero must be kept to prevent our enemies from using such information to harm those close to us.”

“But about you and me, or, me and Chat Noir?” she asked.

“It is a little different, when the time is right, one knows,” Master Fu said.

“Should I… ask Chat Noir about his identity then?” Marinette asked.

Tikki turned to her. “If you ask him, I am sure he will not hesitate to reveal himself, but as Ladybug, you must be on the same page in order to work together efficiently.”

“So… in order to ask him, I would have to tell him too?” That seemed obvious, but she wanted to be sure.

Tikki nodded. “That would be for the best.”

“But do not to force it if you are uncomfortable and do not trust him yet,” Wayzz said.

Marinette stiffened and frowned. “That’s not… but I do trust him.”

Tikki touched Marinette’s face. “You will know when the time is right,” she said.

“I guess.” She didn’t know what to do. Did this mean she was wrong to keep this secret from him for so long? But she thought…

Was she doing everything wrong? Like everything else today?

Master Fu let her think for a minute before speaking again. “I would like to keep this book, it cannot fall into the wrong hands,” he said. “And I hope to have some time to learn from its codes.”

Marinette drew in her lips. “I understand that but… what about Adrien? He should get it back eventually, right?”

“Adrien?” Master Fu repeated.

“Adrien Agreste, he’s a friend from school.”

“I will see he is compensated,” Master Fu smiled.

Marinette felt compelled to agree and hesitated. “Okay.” She hoped it would be alright this way.

There was a short silence. Clearly the matter was closed. She felt like they were waiting for her to say something else.

“I feel like I should be asking you more questions, but I don’t know where to start,” she admitted.

“You are free to visit me anytime, if you need anything at all, my door is always open for Ladybug,” Master Fu smiled and bowed his head. “Perhaps once you rest from today’s events and have gathered your thoughts, the questions you would like to ask will become clearer.”

“You’re right,” she nodded and stood back up. “I’m a bit scatterbrained sometimes… I hope I wasn’t a bother.”

“Not at all,” he said. “In fact, the next time you arrive, we will share a pot of Wayzz’s favorite tea over our discussion.”

Marinette smiled. “I would like that, and I’ll be sure to bring Tikki’s favorite cookies,” she said.

“Thank you for coming, Ladybug,” he said and watched Tikki return to her purse. “Until next time.”

Marinette left the building feeling more at ease than when she arrived.  She had a lot to process, but doing so felt possible now. There was a calming presence about Master Fu. He seemed like a very nice man. If everyone felt like this when spending just a little time around him, it was no wonder he owned a massage therapy parlor. It must be a great business for him.

Just a ten minute walk down the street and around the corner was her parent’s bakery. There were a number of customers inside, so Marinette used the private side door and went straight upstairs to her room. She just wanted to flop down her on chaise.

And that’s exactly what she was going to do. 

She dropped her purse on her desk and allowed Tikki out. Then she turned and simply fell limply onto the chaise with a thump. It was not a bouncy piece of furniture, but she still bounced slightly once and then just laid there and sighed.

Thoughts buzzed.

They buzzed louder than the central air system through the vent, the traffic beyond the windows, and the low-volume voices from her computer combined. She was not even aware that Tikki turned on the computer to watch the page containing the live news reports. If there happened to be a second akuma attack today, then the news would surely say so. It was best to keep an eye on it when they were not busy.

For good measure, the Ladyblog was sitting idle on the other half of the screen, just in case Alya got to something first, which happened sometimes.

Marinette had known she would have more bad days as Ladybug eventually. She just had to face that today was one of them. However, the silver lining was officially meeting Master Fu and learning there was at least one other like herself and Chat Noir in the battle against Hawkmoth. She knew he would be helpful as another Miraculous user for information and guidance.

Master Fu and Wayzz both seemed so wise. Tikki was wise too, but kept her knowledge hidden behind her harmless appearance. Every once in a while Tikki would cast Marinette and knowing gaze, but did not say anything.

The rattle of her cell phone against the desk from within her purse caught her attention so got up to retrieve the device.

It was Alya, which made Marinette smile as she tapped the screen to accept the video call. It flashed opened and showed Alya peering at her through the screen.

“Hey Alya,” Marinette greeted.

“Hey girl, did you see the news today? About Volpina?”

You could say that…

“Sure did. What’s up?”

“There were tons of reports coming in about her being a new superhero! But it turned out to be another akuma, so crazy.”

“It happened so fast. Do you know who the victim was?” Marinette asked. She knew, of course, but still had to play the part of the clueless civilian sometimes to avoid causing any direct suspicion from her best friend.

Marinette sat back down on her chaise as Alya spoke. “Yeah, it was that new girl, Lila, everyone was talking about today. She seemed pretty cheerful so I wonder what happened for her to be targeted by an akuma and then pretend to be a superhero? It happened pretty fast, as usual, and she didn’t stick around for questioning, so there’s not a lot of info to go on which is why I should have been on the case. I will collect all on the deets I can and combine them on the Ladyblog.”

Marinette sucked in her lips briefly, considering her reply.  “Are you going to interview her at school?”

Alya nodded through the screen, “I plan on it. It would be easier if she was in our homeroom though.”

Lila was in the same class as Aurore and Mireille, so they wouldn’t see much of her without making an effort during lunch hour or before and after school. Before Marinette could say anything else, Alya continued.

“I need to talk to Adrien too.”

Marinette nearly choked. Of course Alya would want to talk to him about it. There were probably images online of him in Volpina’s grasp as she ascended the Eiffel Tower. Even if they were illusions, others likely saw them too.

“He will be easier to ask as long as he comes to class,” Marinette said.

“Totes. Well I gotta get going, I’m about to get home and I gotta help my mom with something.”

Marinette nodded and remembered she should help her own parents clean up in the bakery. “Sure, see you later.”

“See ya!” Ayla hung up first.

Marinette placed her phone on her desk and heaved a sigh.

“Are you alright, Marinette?” Tikki asked.

“I’ll get over it,” she said. “Just need to do better next time.”

“Don’t forget, you still saved the day and Adrien is safe, so even if there might have been more bumps than usual, you still endured and I am proud of you,” Tikki smiled.

Marinette smiled. “You’re right, Tikki, I’m just over thinking it.”

She gathered up her purse with her smartphone and Tikki inside and then headed downstairs to ask her parents if they needed some help to clean after the afternoon rush ended.

A mere two blocks away, within a certain mansion, Adrien searched high and low for the book. Hoping, praying, it was just knocked somewhere when Volpina and Ladybug were fighting in his room.

Maybe…

Maybe it was at school?

Or the park?

Where else did he go today?

What about fencing practice? Could it be in his locker?

“Yeah… you’re not going to find it…” Plagg finally called out from his pile of empty camembert boxes.

“What?” Adrien bent over the back of his white couch to look at the black cat Kwami. “How could you say that? I never should have taken it in the first place, I have to find it or else Father will know I was looking through his things!” He was reaching full panic mode fast.

“It’s just a hunch, and you can double check, but I think Ladybug has it, so it’s in safe hands by now,” Plagg said.

“Ladybug? Why would she have it?” Adrien gapped, his eyebrows shooting up his brow.

Plagg sighed. “Maybe you should ask her.”

“I will,” Adrien said and then frowned. “Next time I see her.”

“…Yeah, during the next akuma attack, do you really think you will have much time to talk?”

Adrien frowned even more. “We’ll just… make time,” he said, sounding unconvinced himself.

“Yeah, sure, you do that,” Plagg said. “Now I think it’s time for a catnap.” Plagg released a big yarn and let his head drop.

Adrien looked over the couch once more to look at the kwami. Then he realized something. “Plagg!” he scolded. “That camembert was supposed to last the weekend!”

“Sorry, but you can get some more right?” Plagg said sleepily.

Adrien huffed. “That’s not the point! You know I can’t always go out to get more, you were supposed to make it last until Monday…”

“Oh well, good thing there’s that twenty-four hour convenience store halfway across town, we’ll just transform tonight and get some.”

Adrien rolled his eyes and left Plagg where he was to plop down in his desk chair to log into Ultimate Mecha Strike. It was a rough day and video games should help clear his head and release his stress. There wasn’t really anything else he could do.

Today’s akuma had been extra tricky and even got into his house. Ladybug was really off too. First the way she just snapped at Lila at the park, then the way she went after the illusion of him being kidnapped by Volpina, and almost took off her earrings.

What was wrong with her?

She had never been like that before.

Adrien wanted to ask her if she was okay. What if there was something else going on in her life? He always supposed she was like him when they were not being superheroes. They were just people with normal lives and responsibilities to take care of. If she was having a difficult time with something in her civilian life, he would want to help.

He wished he knew something about her. Anything. Something like her favorite color or food, so he could get something for her to make her feel better. If there was one thing he did know about Ladybug, it was that she would make it through this. She was strong and smart, and today was not a failure. Yet again, she saved the day in way he would have never guessed.

That reflection off the ice-cream wrapper she conjured with Lucky Charm was just what she needed. She defeated Vopina, cleansed the akuma, and saved “Adrien” as well as Paris. Sure, he was Adrien and did not need saving, but she did not know that, and it does not change the fact she did it.

She was amazing.

Adrien sighed and clicked through some menus in his game. He organized his stats and gear on the center screen of the three before him. The Ladyblog was left idle on the left screen and local livestream of the news was left on mute on the right screen.

Paris was quiet again. It would probably stay quiet for a little while longer at least. While Hawkmoth was unpredictable, he did not actually strike multiple times in a day very often.

He ended up playing for a couple hours without stopping. It successfully took his mind off things and gave him the break he needed. After dinner, he returned to his room, finished up the small amount of homework he had, and then took a shower. An actual shower this time, not a pretend one that only wasted water until Ladybug left.

Plagg was snoring away on his bed when Adrien returned in his loungewear. Aside from being designer, they were not really anything fancy. The top was simply a grey long sleeved shirt with three buttons down the top of the chest and three black stripes running down the length of his frontal left side. His dark blue jogger shorts were a bit long, hanging just over his knees.

His hair was still a little damp and ruffled up without product to keep it styled in place. He sat down on the edge of his bed next to Plagg and slipped on some white ankle socks before poking the kwami.

“Plagg, do you want to go get cheese or not?”

Plagg perked up. “Ready?”

“Yeah, just putting on my shoes,” he said and slipped them back on. Then he grabbed a zip up hoodie to put on and called to Plagg. “Interesting that you don’t consider this an abuse of your power,” he remarked.

“I need cheese,” Plagg stated simply. 

“Yeah, claws out,” he said.

He took the long way there. Just to enjoy the night and the cool air whipping through his hair. It was after dark, so he went to a good place near the store to release his transformation before going inside. Paying in cash was best so Nathalie could not track the timestamps on his bankcard.

Luckily, the store clerk seemed too spaced out to notice ten wheels of camembert alongside his bottle of iced-tea and two energy bars for himself. Sometimes he would get hungry after running around so much while making sure he stayed relatively on time for the many obligations in his schedule, so it was good to have something on hand.

Using his money was carefully planned out, even though it was earned himself through his modeling job. He budgeted and planned so no one would be the wiser about where his money was going. Using his bankcard, he would take out cash to last a couple weeks. He claimed it was for sports drinks and personal hygiene items such as deodorant, which luckily, everyone believed.

It was only mildly offending everyone agreed he needed plenty of deodorant. Thanks to Plagg and his stinky cheese.

But as a teenaged boy who was active in sports and daily exercise, staying hydrated and sanitary was deemed important enough to let him buy what he wanted as long as they thought it was those things.

Nathalie had only questioned him once about using his bank card this way, after she must have monitored his spending, and he simply told her it was a budgeting strategy, so he could not spend more than he had on hand. She seemed pleased with his foresight and sense of responsibility and he was never bothered about it again. He had to give himself a pat on the back for that one, even if it was mostly true to begin with. The house only had so much cheese he could get away with taking, and Plagg required an ample amount.

Once again, he took the long way home to lightly patrol the city for any minor occurrences. Maybe catch a pickpocket or help out an elderly citizen. One time he had used his staff to get a child’s toy out of a storm drain. The child’s mother was not happy it was so dirty afterwards, but could not get their child to let go of it. Tonight was without incident.

Adrien returned to his room and looked at the time on his computer screen once he released the transformation. It was just after midnight so he decided it was time for bed. He stashed away his purchases in the mini-fridge tucked away in the cabinets between his bed and desk, took off his shoes and hoodie, and then flopped onto his bed.

It was going to be a quiet weekend, so he was going to sleep in while he had the chance.

He rested on his back and stared at the high ceiling. It was too bright in his room with the Paris lights flowing through the windows. The dividers between every section of reinforced glass cast eerie shadows across the expansive room. It was a familiar sight.

Turning over onto his side, he reached for a remote and pressed a button. Slowly, the windows were covered as shades descended from where they were rolled up in the wall at the tops of the windows. As the shades reached the floor, the room was enveloped in darkness.

No more moving headlights from passing cars on the street below his window. The flashes of various other lights were completely blocked out. After an eventful day, the darkness was peaceful.

Quiet and relaxing.

There were a few glowing points throughout the room. Just little spots that he could pretend were stars. Idle lights on the computer screens, the switch on the surge protector next to the television, and his smart phone screen carried a faint glow from its place on its charger as it rested with a sleep mode screen saver.

Plagg’s little snores indicated he was nearby. Adrien eventually closed his eyes. With a final heavy breath to release the remaining tensions of the day, he was able to sleep too.

**February 2010: Paris France, Agreste Mansion**

“Mom, how did you meet Father?”

Ten-year-old Adrien Agreste was a curious child. He had many questions about everything and was eager to learn. His parents took advantage of this thirst to learn and hired many more tutors to cover the desired subjects. Not only his regular homeschool subjects, but also music, sports, foreign language and their cultures were quickly covered. He liked to ask questions about whatever struck him.

Saint Valentine’s Day was coming up. His father had already showed him the gift he created for his mother. She was going to love it.

Thinking about his parent’s relationship, Adrien wanted to know more about them. The question about how the two met was not completely uncalled for. Mother and son were curled up on the sofa in Adrien’s room while watching a sappy movie together. It was one of his mother’s old favorites.

His mother thought for a second and then winked playfully at him. “It’s a secret.”

“What? No fair,” Adrien sighed. “Was it really that bad?”

His mother burst out laughing, causing young Adrien to frown and drop his shoulders. “No definitely not bad, in fact…” She looked up for a few short seconds and then looked towards the sky beyond the tall windows. “It was miraculous.”

Adrien’s eyebrow lifted as he tilted his head to the side, clearly confused.

It looked like his mother was about to give in, but she ended up winking again. “That is all I am going to tell you for now, but I’ll tell you the rest when you are older.”

“Like how much older?” he asked, drawing his chin back, slightly flabbergasted.

“Maybe when you’re fifteen or sixteen.” She smiled brightly as she reached over and combed her fingers through his hair, brushing loose strands so his bangs were side swept.

“Are you sure you won’t forget?”

“I won’t forget,” she said, “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was more of a prologue or set up chapter. The next chapter will be up very soon.


	2. Major Key

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette just wanted something to go her way. Just another Monday for Ladybug!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doing something a little different with this story concerning patrol. In this story, Ladybug and Chat Noir do not patrol the city at night (yet). I am aware that Tomas Astruc confirmed they patrol in an answer to a question about it on Twitter. For now, patrol is not an established plot point in the known series so far, as in we have yet to actually see it in action, so it's not going to be an already established activity in this story. Thank you for understanding. 
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of menstruation and sanitary items.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng woke one morning to discover three unpleasant things.

It was an otherwise beautiful morning. The sun was up early as summer quickly approached. Light streamed in through the many windows of her attic bedroom. Her mother making breakfast for her downstairs caused an alluring aroma to trickle through the door and all the way up to her bed. With such an atmosphere, she might have been able to rise with bright eyes and ready to seize the day.

Luck was simply not on her side this morning.

The first unpleasant thing was how her alarm clock sounded loudly while simultaneously vibrating against her lofted bed. The sound of the vibrations pulsed through the mattress and right up against her ear, forcing the girl to lift her head and reach around with one hand to locate the offending device to make it stop.

The fatigue was extra heavy this morning. Her body felt tired and ached. It was as if she hadn’t slept at all after fighting off two akuma attacks in one day. That was not the case. Yesterday had been peaceful. She chatted with Alya online, watched a movie with her parents while having dinner in the living room, and then she had finished her homework and went to bed early. Expecting to wake up well rested and ready to take on the day, she instead discovered the second unpleasant thing as her gut clenched and her underwear felt wrong when she shifted in her discomfort.

Was it really that time of the month already?

Her mother had told her to track her cycle on her calendar. Alya had told her to use an app on her smartphone. Both of these things she did, and continued to do so, but it did not help when the days flew by and she did not bother to check the logs for when Mother Nature was supposed to visit again. It’s not like it came at the exact same time every month. No. That would be too easy. It always had to jump in early or late by just a few days at most to guarantee it appeared at the most inconvenient times.

About to go to a slumber party? Period.

Swimsuit shopping with Alya for their summer break plans? Cancel that. Period.

Just made super cute pajama pants that she swore would last her years. They are her period pajamas now…

Marinette laid face-down in the fetal position on the end of her bed while trying to find a comfortable position to alleviate the pain. She knew she had to get up to do anything about it. It would be best to eat something, take some medicine, get her underwear cleaned up while the stain was fresh, check for stains on her pajamas and bedsheets, get down to the bathroom, and get ready for her day.

That was when Marinette discovered her third unpleasant thing that morning. It was Monday. School. Today was another class trip where the students were volunteered to learn about different jobs at the local businesses. She would likely be on her feet all day.

The week was just starting and it just had to start off like this…

For being the symbol of good luck as Ladybug, local superhero of Paris, she still constantly cursed her bad luck as Marinette.

“Marinette,” her mother’s voice called gently through the trap door of the bedroom. “Breakfast is almost ready, you don’t want to be late for school today,” she said.

“Mooooom...” Marinette groaned and slipped off her bed to start down the steps of the loft. It was not the normal tired complaint she gave when she simply didn’t want to get out of bed. Her mother recognized that.

“I’ll make you some chamomile tea for when you get down,” her mother said.

“Thank you…” Marinette said as reached the floor.

The tea would help. It was soothing and helped alleviate inflammation of menstrual cramps. Even though it was a light tea, her mother would add a spoonful of real honey to make it sweet and even more pleasant.

She pulled out her school clothes and readied them next to the sink in her room. Sighing, she turned on the water and washed her face. After toweling her face dry, she opened one of the drawers and readied her makeup on the other side of the sink.

In the drawer under that, she found the array of colorful wrappers in different sizes littering the bottom of the drawer. She was running low. Of course she was. This meant she had to go make a store run today.

“Couldn’t it have waited just one more day?” Marinette said.

Tikki flitted up and nuzzled her face. “Oh Marinette, you are simply becoming a grown woman, you will get used to it.”

That did not make Marinette feel any better. With her luck, she will start her period on her wedding day if she doesn’t force it otherwise. It would certainly ruin her dream-wedding, not to mention dream wedding night, all with a certain blond-haired dreamboat whose face littered her walls from the many teen fashion magazines she owned.

With a fresh sanitary napkin placed in a clean pair of underwear, Marinette quickly changed. At least there was just a small stain. She caught it before it got any farther. The stain came out easy with just soap and water, so no need to break out the harsh cleaning solutions.

Then she brushed her hair, pulled it back into pigtails, brushed her teeth, moisturized her skin, and applied her makeup like any other morning. As usual, she put on a little mascara and lip-gloss. She eyed a tube of ruby-red lipstick she bought on impulse a while back, swearing she would get to use it soon, like on a date.

Before she could start having beautiful date fantasies, she put everything away. Then she put a few different sanitary items inside her little purse, along with her phone, and Tikki of course. Then she grabbed one more sanitary item before heading downstairs to use the bathroom. Not like she couldn’t use a tampon in her bedroom. She had to go to the bathroom anyway, but she also refused to do that in front of Adrien’s pictures, as silly as that may have been. If she wasn’t going to be so active today, she’d forgo the tampon and stick to the pad in favor of sleeping all day.

When she sat down for breakfast, her mother placed a cup of warm chamomile tea and some medicine in front of Marinette.

“Thanks, Mom,” she said and took the medicine with the tea first and then started putting her breakfast together.

She was just about done eating when her mother refilled her tea cup.

“Try to have a second cup before you leave,” Sabine said as she stroked her daughter’s cheek with the back of her fingers. “Today is another career day, isn’t it?” Marinette nodded. “If you get something too strenuous, just text me and I will write you a note. Last time they had you running around all over the place.”

Like mother like daughter, the first day or two of menstruation could be particularly unpleasant and difficult to manage away from the comforts of home.

“Thanks, Mom,” Marinette said again. “But that was Chloe’s doing last time, she won’t have the same influence this time around.”

Sabine nodded. “Alright, try to have a good day, Sweetie.”

“I will,” she said with a weak smile. The only thing that could make her day better was if she got to work with her friends, including Adrien. She didn’t get to spend any time with him last time.

When she got to class that morning, just minutes before it was scheduled to start, she took her seat next to Alya. The boys that usually sat in the seat in front of them were still downstairs by the main entrance, just idly chatting when Marinette had entered the building. They would be up soon like always.

“Hey girl, you have that look on your face, are you alright?” Alya asked, looking up from her phone to watch Marinette closely.

Marinette tried to laugh it off. “Oh yeah, well you know, just cramps, no big deal,” she said.

“On the rag, huh?” Alya nodded in understanding. “Did you take anything to help?”

“Yeah, it’s starting to work already,” Marinette nodded. “I will be fine by the time we start working.”

“Good morning, ladies,” Adrien greeted as he rounded the desk to take his seat.

“Good morning,” Nino smiled and took the other seat.

“Morning,” the girls said together.

Nino turned around in his seat to face the group. “Ready to work today?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Alya answered and offered Marinette a sympatric glance.

“I hope it’s more fun this time,” Adrien said. “Last time we were attacked by an akuma.”

“Bro, that guy was freaky,” Nino shook his head. “Let’s all hope today is another akuma-free day, happy thoughts everyone,” he gave a thumbs up.

“Think positive,” Adrien agreed.

“Especially you two,” Alya said, one hand pointed to Marinette and the other pointed at Adrien.

“W-what?” Marinette stiffened.

“You are the last two people in our whole class that haven’t fallen victim to one of those crazy akumas,” Alya explained. “What if something happened? You two need to be especially careful about what gets under your skin.”

Both Marinette and Adrien both dropped their gazes towards their desks. “Yeah…” they both said.

Marinette straighten up. “Don’t worry about me, Alya,” she began. “If I haven’t been targeted by one of those things yet, I might never be, and we all know how many times something has upset me or that I’ve embarrassed myself, and nothing’s ever happened.”

“Well I guess that’s true,” Alya said with a smile.

“Marinette, don’t jinx yourself,” Nino chuckled. “You say that now, and just wait, something will happen like today or something and next thing you know, you’ll blink and Ladybug and Chat Noir will be standing near you doing the fist-bump thing they always do.”

He raised his fist to Alya in the seat behind him. “Pound it,” the two said together and then laughed.

“And you,” Nino started, staring at Adrien.

“Me?” Adrien blinked.

“I’m not actually worried about you,” Nino said.

Adrien gave a short chuckle with a raised eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“Look dude, I met your pops once and got possessed, so you must, like, have a really long rope if that guy hasn’t caused you enough distress for it to happen to you already,” Nino said.

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little exasperated. “Yeah well, it’s not like I see him much.” He dropped his hand and looked down.

Marinette frowned. Adrien had that look again. The same look he had during Parent’s Career Presentation Day a while back. He had spent more time in the hallway than at his desk that afternoon. She supposed it was lucky his father had not attended that day, with all the commotion that sprung up. Adrien did not need his father to gain reason to have a bad impression of his school or class. She had not exactly been on her best behavior towards the end either.

She wanted to say something to him. Anything encouraging. She had finally opened her mouth only to shut it again when the teacher stepped inside and closed the classroom door signaling the start of class.

“Good news,” Miss. Bustier smiled from the front of the room. “We had three different businesses agree to accept a handful of students each to mentor today.”

Miss. Bustier started checking the attendance. “Chloe is absent today. I already received word for her to be excused. And… everyone else is present.”

Sabrina had nodded to Miss. Bustier as she spoke, confirming she knew of Chloe’s absence today. She did not look upset about it, but was nowhere near as thrilled as the rest of the class. Sabrina was able to simply turn around and chat with Alix and Mylène during free time.

“I made sure the groups were fairly even, and include both boys and girls for each business. To keep it simple, I’ve divided up the groups based on seating arguments,” Miss. Bustier said. “Each group will receive a packet with your assignment and a sheet for each of you to fill out at the end of the day.”

Miss. Bustier picked up three packets and started up the steps of the center aisle.

She handed the first packet to Adrien. “Adrien, Nino, Alya, and Marinette are group one,” she said and then turned to the other side and gave the next packet to Mylène. “Group two will be Mylène, Alix, Sabrina, Ivan, and Nathanael. Boys, you may come down here to join the rest of your group when it is time to start.” The boys nodded in understanding and Mrs. Bustier gave the last packet to Kim. “And then Kim, Max, Juleka, and Rose will make up group three.”

Miss. Bustier went back to the front of the room to cover the rest of the homeroom announcements and to go over the student-worker etiquette they were to keep in mind for the day. It was mostly a reminder to remain on their best behavior. If anyone was caught goofing off or ditching, there would be consequences with the principle.

Marinette was too preoccupied admiring the back of Adrien’s head to fully listen to the teacher. Finally, she was going to be in same group as Adrien! And Chloe was nowhere to be seen today! For once, Adrien would be able to go a day without Chloe hanging on to him or shoving her out the way. Which meant a better chance for her to talk to him again! If there was one thing she wanted to happen before the school year ended, it was a chance to be with Adrien. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll get another chance to go on a date with him… and have it actually be with him this time.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve seen a day without Chloe before,” Alya remarked.

It was true. Chloe hardly ever missed school. It was kind of ironic considering now that Marinette knew Sabrina did most of Chloe’s homework.

She would enjoy Chloe’s absence while she could. Her luck was finally looking up today.

Marientte’s eyes landed on Adrien as he turned in his seat to look at Alya. “I think she’s doing a fundraiser today,” he offered quietly.

Alya cocked her head to the side.

“I’ll tell you later,” Adrien said and turned forward while the teacher was talking.

Once the instructions were completed, the groups were escorted outside and directed towards the businesses they would be volunteering at. They were all close by and close together, so Miss. Bustier was going to be traveling between all three to keep tabs on everyone.

“Just a café, huh?” Nino said as they looked at the building.

It was clean and white, with little tables and a counter with a short line.

“What were you hoping for?” Alya asked him.

“I dunno, maybe a music store?”

Alya sighed. “I should have known,” she said. “Come on, we should get started before Miss. Bustier comes back.”

Marinette followed everyone in and they were quickly met by a petite woman with candy-colored hair. “You must be from the middle school, I’m Lynn, the owner of this establishment,” she said and looked them over with a smile. “Thank you for coming today, now I don’t have a lot for everyone to keep busy all day, but for now I have some things for all of you to start on,” she said.

As they were escorted to the back, they passed someone playing the piano. He was wearing the same uniform as Lynn. The man looked fairly young, but he was pretty good at the piano.

He must have sensed Marinette’s gaze because he looked up as she passed by. When their eyes connected, he winked. Marinette frowned out of habit. Cocky blond-haired boys winking reminded her a little too much of a certain superhero and she reacted without thought. She quickly pulled her gaze back forward so she wouldn’t stumble as she followed Adrien into the back area of the café.

Lynn gave each of them an apron and a task.

“So I need you boys to meet the truck out back and unload the supplies, just stack them by the door inside for now and I’ll come back to show you where I want everything organized,” Lynn directed.

“Yes ma’am,” Nino and Adrien nodded proceeded through the back door.

Lynn then looked over to Alya and Marinette. “For now, I want you two to bus the tables and clean, I’ll get you the towels and detergent and show you how to work the dishwasher. Later I might have you two wait on tables.”

The girls followed Lynn into the back and took care of the dishes.

Marinette watched Adrien and Nino walk in and out with boxes. There was a hand cart available, but it was seemed useless because of the step to get inside.

“I’m surprised they’re not complaining, those look kind of heavy,” Alya observed as she loaded the machine.

Marinette sorted the clean utensils and cups into their assigned areas. “I’m not really sure if Adrien complains in general.”

Alya nodded. “Nino complains plenty for the both of them, but I suppose they get to pretend to be big strong men for a while, maybe something to boast about instead.”

“I don’t think Adrien boasts much either,” Marinette said quietly.

“Nino also boasts enough for the both of them,” Alya chuckled.  Marinette giggled.

Both groups were nearly finished with their tasks so far when the pianist entered the back room.

“I don’t mean to be a bother, but could I trouble you for a small favor?” he asked, voice smooth and a small apologetic smile on his face.

Marinette looked around quickly. Lynn was not present, Alya had her hands literally full, and the boys were just outside.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I just need some ice for my wrist, all the piano playing seems to have got to me,” he said.

“Oh, um sure,” Marinette looked around and quickly found the freezer. She retrieved a small towel and put a handful of ice in it before bringing it to him.

He held out the back of his hand, so she pressed the makeshift icepack to his wrist. “Ah, thank you, you’re so kind,” he said. “I’m Sean, it’s very nice to meet you.”

“Marinette,” she smiled. “And that’s Alya, we’re volunteers from the middle school.”

Sean lit up. “I’m a volunteer too–not from the middle school, I’m in high school,” he said.

“Are you training to be a pianist?” Marinette asked.

“Yes, it’s a lot of work to do it professionally,” he said.

Nino nudged Adrien by the door and then pointed with his chin towards Marinette and Sean. Adrien raised an eyebrow as he looked to see what was going on. Marinette was still holding the ice to Sean’s wrist while they spoke. Not seeing a problem, he looked back at Nino with a confused tilt of his head. Nino sighed and shrugged.

They were both about to head back outside to help each other lift a particularly heavy box inside when the conversation drew Adrien’s attention back for a moment.

“I guess you could say it’s a _pain-_ ist instead,” Sean added with a chuckle. Adrien grimaced and quickly followed Nino to help.

Marinette had to force her smile back into place when she nearly rolled her eyes instead. He makes puns too? That was a horrible pun. This guy really reminded her of Chat Noir now.

Wait.

Wait just a minute.

Marinette looked at Sean–really looked at him this time, to take notice of his basic obvious features. He was lean and his back was straight. His blond hair was swept back, but it could be about the same length as Chat Noir’s hair. Sean had brilliantly green eyes. Chat Noir’s eyes were completely green and morphed like a cat’s, but she supposed he could have green eyes as a civilian, but she never really thought about it before. Sean was tall for his age too. Chat Noir was also tall from what she noticed. How tall was he exactly? It didn’t take much to be taller than her, being quite short, but he was quite a bit taller right?

Then she noticed his smile. His teeth were perfect, and while the smile was not the grin or smirk she was used to seeing on Chat Noir, there were enough similarities that she had to wonder.

Did she just happen to meet Chat Noir without his mask?

It was almost too good to be true. She needed to speak with Chat Noir as soon as possible about what Master Fu said and there was not a single akuma attack all weekend. Volpina was the last one.

Should… should she just ask him?

If he wasn’t, it would make things weird. Not to mention Alya was right there. Wouldn’t she notice too? 

“Funny,” Alya ended up saying. “You know, you could totally do a good impression of Chat Noir,” she said.

Marinette stiffened. If Alya noticed too, then maybe it was true. She quickly looked back up at Sean while he took the icepack into his own hand to hold it. Marinette took the chance to look at his hands.

There was no ring.

Granted, he was just playing piano and she wasn’t sure if one was allowed to wear jewelry while performing.

“I don’t know about that,” he said and then a camera shutter sound effect played. “Did you just take a picture of me?” Sean asked.

“Alya!” Marinette gasped.

“Sorry, I should’ve asked,” Alya laughed. “Is it okay?”

“I guess,” Sean blinked.

“Thanks! Awesome,” Alya beamed and proceeded to take a few more pictures. “Just documenting the experience, but I can only have my phone out when no one’s looking,” she said. Marinette guessed the part about documenting was a lie.

“Oh okay,” Sean said and smiled properly for the camera.

“Nice one,” Alya said and put her phone away. “You could be a model,” she said.

Sean laughed. “I agree I look good, but my passion is in piano.”

Oh gosh, even that attitude. Marinette wasn’t sure what to think.

“Is Sean in here?” Lynn quickly said as she popped back in. Nino and Adrien were carefully putting down the last box. “Why aren’t you at the piano?”

“I just needed a quick break,” Sean said.

“If you’re not going to practice, you should go back to school and schedule a morning class instead for the rest of the term.”

“Y-yes ma’am, I get back out there,” he nodded and was about to step forward and return to the piano despite his injury.

“I can fill in for you if you need a break,” Adrien said.

“Huh?”

“Do some wrist stretches while I play instead, I don’t mind,” Adrien said. “Would that be acceptable?”

Lynn nodded. “I did advertise someone would play the piano in the mornings, I didn’t specify who,” she reasoned. “And you are volunteering, so I guess you’re up.”

Adrien nodded and headed to the front area.

They all watched him sit down at the piano and run his fingers over the keys through a quick set of practice notes. Then he looked over the sheet music and nodded to himself as he laid it out before him so he could follow one he seemed to be familiar with.

Marinette had never heard him play the piano before. She only heard about it from Nino. This was her first time to witness it herself.

Lynn looked pleased and her customers were happy.

Marinette was so proud of Adrien. He was always so kind and willing to help however he could.

“Hey, uh, are you okay?” Nino asked Sean.

“Y-yeah, it’s just I practice every night, sometimes for hours,” Sean explained. “I know I should rest more, but… I need to get used to playing for a crowd too, because I always choke at competitions, and I’m such a screw up.” He was looking at the floor.

Marinette was about to tell him he wasn’t a screw up. This was not a failure, just a warning that he needs to rest. She did not get to, because as soon as she tore her eyes from Adrien and opened her mouth, Sean left in a hurry out the back door.

Marinette wanted to follow if he was upset, but she did not know him well enough to know what kind of pressure he might be getting at home. His parents could be really supportive to let him follow his passion, or even really pushy and demanded that he miss school in order to practice piano.

This was not like when she was able to speak with Ivan when she knew he was upset. They were peers and classmates. She already knew him.

She frowned with that thought. What if Sean was Chat Noir? That means he is her friend. She could not recall ever seeing Chat Noir upset, but if he ever was, she wondered what she would do. The worst thing she could do is brush him off, but unfortunately, that was most likely the case if she was focused on defeating an akuma first.

“Hope he’s alright,” Alya said as she slid next to Marinette. Then Alya looked around and leaned in close to Mariette to whisper behind her hand. “So do you have a type or something?”

“Huh?” Marinette looked at Alya.

“You were watching Sean pretty close there, and I have to say he resembles a certain someone…” Alya said.

Marinette stiffened and looked guilty. “W-what? Who does–what are you talking about?”

Alya laughed. “Really girl? I’m telling you that he kind of looks like Adrien. Didn’t you notice what I said about how he could be a model?”

“O-oh, uh yeah, I heard you,” Marinette said with a strained smile. “I guess I just didn’t notice.”

“Tall, blond, green eyes, plays the piano…” Alya listed off and then pointed towards Adrien.

“Okay, okay, I get it now,” Marinette was starting to turn a little pink. “Shouldn’t we get back to work?”

Alya sighed. “Well yeah, unless you want to hop up onto that piano and start singing,” she joked.

It did not fail to make Marinette’s cheeks pink further. “What? Like some kind of musical?” she countered.

“Just sayin’,” Alya said with a smirk.

“Come on…” Marinette sighed and dragged Alya back to the dishes. “We have tables to bus.”

Nino joined them for a minute.

They barely got started when Alya noticed a chill. “Is it getting cold in here?”

“Hm?” Marinette looked up and saw a frosty window. “Um… you don’t think…”

There was a loud crash outside, causing them to look towards the café windows just in time to see a giant musical note, a treble cleft to be specific, made of ice fly by and crash into the ground with a flurry of icy flakes, covering everything within ten feet with ice.

Adrien halted the music abruptly, Nino jumped, and Marinette stiffened and quickly looked around. The customers rose out of their seats when Lynn moved around the counter quickly.

“An akuma!” Alya blurted.

“Everyone, please exit the building!” Lynn instructed. “Students, find your teacher and return to your school or find a safe place!”

No one had to be told twice.

Marinette slipped out the back door, hoping to find a dumpster to transform behind. However, she wasn’t alone. Alya and Nino were right behind her.

“We have to find Miss. Bustier and warn her!” Marinette called out. “And the others nearby–ack!” Marinette slipped on some ice and fell right into a trash can, face first and feet in the air.

_Wonderful…_

“Marinette!” Alya called out and started to help her get her head out of the garbage. Nino was having trouble staying upright himself.

They stopped when they heard a loud burst piano music and then a crash and shouts some distance away.

“D-don’t worry about me, I’ll think I’ll have to hide instead,” Marinette said, still holding onto the edge of the trashcan. Her flats had absolutely no traction and the ground was covered in smooth ice. It was otherwise a very warm day. Definitely an akuma’s doing. “Oaf!” Marinette’s feet slipped apart into the splits as she tried to hold herself up. “G-go on, I’ll be fine,” she said.

“Okay, but you hide right over there, and don’t get hurt trying to move,” Alya said and carefully moved towards Nino who got to the wall to guide himself along the icy ground. “Come on, we need to find Miss. Bustier and I need to find that akuma for the Ladyblog.”

Nino groaned, but nodded and tried to move faster.

Marinette got back to her feet and continued to hold onto the trashcan as she watched her friends leave. It took a minute, but they eventually disappeared around the corner where there was not as much ice yet.

“Phew,” Marinette sighed and opened her purse to let Tikki out.

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Tikki asked quickly.

“Yeah, I think the worst might just be a pulled muscle,” she said and leaned down to rub her hands over her inner thighs. She had not been prepared for the splits like that and not the added strain it took to pull herself back up without falling back into the splits position. “Anyway, we need to find the akuma that’s causing this, Tikki, spots on!”

In a flash, she was Ladybug.

Taking a breath, she took hold of her yoyo and sent it flying up to the roofs to get off that icy ground and a better look. The akuma could not be very far away. Logically, following the ice and the music was her best bet.

With a swift throw, her yoyo connected to a chimney in the distance and she sent herself flying towards the rooftops. She landed gracefully and sprinted to the edge to survey the streets below.

That’s when she spotted the akuma.

He was a tall blue-skinned man, with a black mask, and an all-white formal military uniform with a piano keyboard worn as an icy sash across his chest. The ice sparkled and when he touched the keys, they shined blue as he played a tune. Then the shining blue glow gathered together and swiftly shot out of the keyboard as a giant icy treble cleft.

The treble cleft crashed into a gate and burst into an array of smaller musical notes, not unlike snow and hail. The notes stuck to everything and then melted together into an icy sheet. It was probably impenetrable if experience was anything to go by.

The akuma did not seem to have a target at the moment. “Now everyone will take a break!” He shouted. “No one should have to work so hard they break instead, so I’ll make it so no one can work at all!”

That voice. “It’s Sean,” Ladybug frowned. “We have to snap him out of this,” she stopped for a moment remembering her suspicions before. “I should check for Chat Noir.” She just opened her yoyo to call him when Chat Noir himself jumped down beside her.

“What’s the score, LB?” he asked as he carefully peered over the edge of the building.

She swallowed, feeling a little silly that she thought Sean could have been Chat Noir.

“Looks like a pianist that’s been working too hard and can’t catch a break,” she said.

“Hmm, maybe he should control his tempo,” Chat Noir said. “Any idea where the akuma is?”

“Not yet, I need a closer look, everything on him is either white or ice,” Ladybug said.

“After you, My Lady,” he said and retrieved his baton and extended it into a staff in preparation.

Ladybug spun her yoyo around. “We need to get him to stop pressing those keys on his sash, so get in close and see what you can find, and be careful.”

“Gotcha, I’ll play it low key,” Chat Noir grinned and Ladybug rolled her eyes.

Ladybug and Chat Noir leapt down to the street to encounter their opponent. Chat Noir veered to the side to find an opening while Ladybug spun her yoyo.

“Hey! Stop right now!” Ladybug hollered to get Sean’s attention.

“I am Major Key!” he declared. “Hand over your Miraculous, Ladybug!”

“Maybe you should play a lullaby, because in your dreams, Major Key!” This time Ladybug used trash talk to keep his attention on her so Chat Noir could get into position to jump in close.

“Are you sure you aren’t working too hard, Ladybug, make you should chill!” Major Key’s hands pressed the piano keys on his sash in rapid succession. Each note sparkled and glowed and then fired a giant treble cleft was flung in her direction.

Ladybug deflected it and leapt to side to avoid the burst of icy musical notes the treble cleft left in its place. Everything the notes touched turned to ice. She would have to be more careful.

“Missed me, maybe you should work harder!” Ladybug mocked.

Major Key sneered and growled. “Once I get your Miraculous, no one will have to work again!”

“Is that what Hawkmoth told you?”

Major Key rose is arms up towards his sash again and Ladybug took the opening and threw her yoyo, wrapping it around him to keep his arms from moving.

“Chat Noir!”

“On it!” Chat Noir leapt in and started reaching into pockets and tugging on his clothes, looking for anything that stood out or could be removed if it was not a part of the transformation. That’s when his eyes landed on something tied to Major Key’s wrist. It looked like a wristband tucked just under the sleeve of his uniform. “Ah-ha!” Chat Noir went for it, but Major Key wiggled his fingers against the far keys of the sash.

It was not a pleasant tune, but it was quick, and the glow burst from him and threw Chat Noir aside. Ladybug barely managed to tug back on Major Key quick enough to prevent the treble cleft from being a direct hit.

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug called. Ice was quickly covering his side and wrapping around a leg and an arm.

“It’s his wrist band!” Chat Noir called back.

Boy she hated it when the akumized item was on their wrist. It meant extra restraints and caution. She had to think quickly.

Taking a chance, Ladybug withdrew her yoyo and tossed it up. “Lucky Charm!” In a flash, a red and black spotted rubber chicken fell into her hands.

Ladybug just looked at it for a moment. “O…kay.”

Chat Noir had the nerve to snort out a laugh.

Major Key, now with his arms completely free, played a set of notes and another treble cleft was flung at her. She dodged it more easily this time and quickly looked around for what to do.

Her vision flashed with clues. Chat Noir’s hand, Major Key’s boot, the icy ground, and then the rubber chicken. In an instant, she had a plan.

“Chat Noir! The ground!” Ladybug instructed and clarity flashed in his eyes.

“Got it!” Chat Noir, despite being half covered in patches of ice, got into offensive position. “Hey Major Key, I think you need a rest!”

“A rest, huh?” He quickly played some keys and a giant rest note flung out of the blue glow and straight at Chat Noir.

Chat Noir was already running straight at him though. He leapt under the giant note towards Major Key. “Cataclysm!” Darkness swirled around his hand as he aimed for the ground at Major Key’s feet.

Major Key leapt up to dodge the otherwise devastating blow. The ice and ground under Major Key began to crumble and a wide fracture appeared in the pavement.

With a well calculated toss, Ladybug threw the rubber chicken into the fray. It bounced and slid across the ice into position, just under Major Key’s foot as he landed to dodge the cracking pavement.

He began to slide around wildly. The rubber chicken offered no traction on the ice and Major Key flailed about. Ladybug gave a mighty throw and used her yoyo to punch Major Key in the chest, making him fall back uncontrollably and right into the fractured ground, effectively trapping him as he was wedged awkwardly and unable to move.

Ladybug approached him and Chat Noir pointed to the item.

“Looks like it’s time to tune you out, Major Key,” Ladybug smiled and she removed the blackened wristband and ripped it half to release the black butterfly. With practiced ease, she captured and cleansed the akuma before sending it off on its merry way.

Turning back, she picked up the rubber chicken and tossed it into the sky. “Miraculous Ladybug!” she declared and a spell of ladybugs appeared and cleaned up the mess. In seconds, the ice was gone, the ground the repaired, and Major Key was left to kneel on the ground as his transformation faded and he was Sean again.

Sean looked around with the typical post-akuma hazy confusion.

Chat Noir stepped up to Ladybug and they bumped their fists together. “Pound it,” they smiled.

“It’s good to see you’re back on your game today, Ladybug, I was worried about you after Volpina,” Chat Noir said.

Ladybug blinked for a moment. “Oh right, about that, I’m fine but I need to talk to you about something,” she said and both of their Miraculous items beeped in warning.

“Are you going to confess your undying love for me, My Lady?” Chat Noir said with a hand to his heart. “As much as that would be music to my ears, I’m afraid we’re out of time.”

“I know, I just need a minute, it’s important,” Ladybug said quickly. “Follow me,” she said. She didn’t like leaving the victim like this, but the reporters and police were already closing in and could help him.

Chat Noir seemed to understand Ladybug was serious and followed her to the nearby rooftops and down a strip of buildings for privacy.

“Is something wrong?” he asked with genuine concern. There was another set of warning beeps.

“Another Miraculous wielder by the name of Master Fu wishes to see both of us,” she said. “It’s about the Miraculous and our fight against Hawkmoth.”

Chat Noir’s brow rose up. “What? Where? When?  Wait, who?” He wasn’t sure which question he wanted to ask in the limited time remaining.

“Ask your kwami, as far as when, I’ll try to be there tomorrow afternoon, if can you be there?” Ladybug asked.

Chat Noir tried to think. “I’ll try,” he said. “But as Chat Noir or as… _not_?” he asked.

Ladybug took a moment to think. “As Chat Noir,” she said. “We are going to talk about visiting as possibly ‘ _not_ ’ with Master Fu eventually, so I guess, it’s time to think about that,” she tried to explain.

“Oh,” Chat Noir blinked, clearly surprised. “Well, okay, we’ll talk later then.”

There was another set of beeps.

“Right, I gotta go, bug out,” she said and sent her yoyo flying and leapt away.

“Whoa,” Chat Noir breathed out, slightly in disbelief. Then he remembered he had to get off the roof before his transformation could wear out and he still had to find a safe place to release the transformation willingly. He sprinted off in a panicked flash.

Soon, Marinette found Alya, Nino, and Adrien with Miss. Bustier outside the café. Miss. Bustier was on the phone a few steps away and the others looked over as Marinette approached. She ran over to rejoin them.

“It’s over, right?” Marinette asked. “I was stuck because of the ice and when I noticed it was gone, I looked for you.”

“I just went through the building to check for you a minute ago, but you were probably already heading around the building, huh?” Nino said and Marinette nodded.

Alya had her phone out and held it towards Marinette’s face. “You’re not going to believe this, but I caught nearly the whole fight on camera, I haven’t had footage this good since the Pharaoh and Horrificator!” Alya said gleefully. Alya’s blog hits were sure to spike again with the recording of Major Key.

“Wow, that’s awesome,” Marinette smiled. “I can’t wait to see it.” Based on past experiences, Marinette would not be allowed to watch it from Alya’s phone and would have to watch it on the Ladyblog at home.

“I know right?” Alya gushed. “Ladybug and Chat Noir really have their teamwork down perfectly, it’s so awesome!” Alya said and emailed the videos to herself for archiving. “Speaking of which, I guess I can take Sean off my Chat Noir suspect list,” she added. 

“Your what?”

Nino sighed. “Not that thing again…”

“You know, in my quest to find out who they really are, like when I think someone may have a chance because they resemble or act like one of the superheroes.”

“I haven’t heard about that,” Adrien chuckled.

Nino made a face. “It’s new, and it makes her look like a crazy person, with all the pictures and charts, you’d think she’s looking for aliens or government conspiracy,” he said.

“I’m still trying to work out an organizational system, okay?” Alya defended. “I needed an outside eye to help with it.”

“When you text your boyfriend saying your parents aren’t home and that he needs to come over, that is not what he expects to find,” Nino said quietly.

Adrien chuckled quietly under his hand and Marinette pursed her lips together to hold in her own laugh. They were both aware how their friends’ relationship was not exactly progressing romantically, traditional or otherwise. It was unclear if Nino and Alya have gone on an actual date yet. They mostly spend a lot of time together around school.

Miss. Bustier finished her phone call and approached the students. “Looks like we are clear to continue as planned, and Lynn has already said she is alright with that.”

“Does anyone know where Sean went?” Marinette asked.

“Well, turns out he was the one akumatized, so he either went home to rest or will be coming back,” Alya reasoned.

The four entered the now empty café. Since everyone had left in such a hurry, cups and half-eaten snacks were left out on the tables. It gave the four plenty to do. This time the boys were put on dish duty in the back and the girls were cleaning up the tables.

They were just beginning to finish cleaning up all the tables when someone entered the café. It was not a customer. Sean looked a little lost, standing in the front entry.

Lynn was quick to approach him. “Sean, are you alright?”

“Uh, y-yeah,” he nodded. “I went home to get my wrist brace.”

“If you need a break, please let me know,” she said. “What am I supposed to think when you disappear?”

“I didn’t want to bother you while you were working,” he said meekly.

Lynn sighed. “I didn’t mean to be short with you, I’m sorry, I am the adult here and I should have seen something was wrong.”

“It’s okay.”

Lynn placed a hand on his shoulder. “Look, I know you have been working hard, really hard, and I admire that you are putting your all into your practice, but as the adult, I’m going to let you go home for today, in fact, I think a couple days rest is overdue, how does that sound?”

“Would that really be alright? What about the credits?” he asked.

“I’ll make sure I sign whatever you need to get your credits, you just can’t go on at this pace, everyone needs to rest once in a while,” she said. “I know I do.”

Sean considered it. “Okay, if you say so,” he said. “See you Wednesday then.”  Lynn gave him a quick hug and told him to feel better soon. He left with a small smile and spirits lifted.

Marinette was glad to see them make up and that there was no hard feelings left. This was the way it was supposed to be for the victim. Not like Lila. Marinette thought she should check on her. Okay, maybe spy on her a little, but not in the weird way, in the concerned way.

When lunch time started, Marinette realized she had been lost in her own head for some time. She didn’t even stress about Adrien. That part might have been a good thing since she was often extra clumsy around him and she did not want to be dropping the café’s dishes.

“We should all have lunch together in the park,” Alya suggested.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Nino said. “What do ya think, dude?”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. “I would like to, but I have to go home for lunch,” he said, but was quick to add, “I’ll be quick and meet you guys in the park though, if that’s okay.”

Nino chuckled. “That’s fine man, you’ll catch up,” he said and patted Adrien’s back.

Adrien smiled. “Just the park between my house and school, right?” he asked. Nino and Alya both nodded while Marinette watched Adrien’s ride pull up to the café. She could barely see Adrien’s driver inside. “Later then,” he waved and quickly hopped into the back seat.

Marinette turned to the remaining two with a smile. “I’m going to stop by home first too,” she said. She really needed the bathroom.

“Alright,” Alya said. “We can walk with you.”

As they headed to the bakery, they saw the others gathering at the entrance of the park too, right next to the Heroes of Paris statue.

“Looks like everyone had the same idea,” Nino mused.

“It’ll be fun!” Alya smiled widely.

They stopped briefly at the bakery so Marinette could go inside. “Alright, I’ll be back down soon,” she said.

“See ya!” Alya and Nino waved before moving to join the others in the park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many battle puns. Once they gets started it becomes pretty easy to just keep rolling them out.
> 
> Fun fact: Sean's hair was meant to resemble Felix. 
> 
> This chapter got a bit long. The next one picks up with Adrien during lunch hour.


	3. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunch where classmates get really off topic. Chat Noir is a cat of night. Bromance before romance. They finally meet with Master Fu together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mention of Menstruation.  
> Sorry for any leftover errors. I will continue to fix anything I catch as I review for future posts.

After arriving back home, Adrien had inhaled his lunch and was quick to return to his room. He promised to meet his friends in the park, but he needed a minute. As soon as he closed his door, he opened his outer shirt.

“Plagg,” Adrien started.

“Camembert first,” Plagg said and flew over to the desk. “That one little piece you gave me after that akuma was not enough!”

“It was just to get you by,” Adrien said and got out another wheel and placed it on his desk. “There you go.”

Plagg gleefully jumped into it and inhaled three wedges before Adrien started talking.

“Ladybug said we have to go see Master Fu,” he started and Plagg paused.

“Oh yeah,” Plagg said. “Wonder what he wants?”

“You know him?”

“Sure do,” Plagg said. “Guardian of the Miraculous, and Wayzz’s partner– I’ve been wondering when they would call a meeting…”

“Any idea what this is about and why now?” Adrien asked.

“Ehh, not really, could be a lot of things.”

“Ladybug said we might talk about revealing our identities soon,” he said. “And I want to know, I want to share, but now I’m just trying not to get my hopes up, I know there must be something else she wants to talk about.”

“Probably,” Plagg said frankly and then inhaled another wedge from his camembert wheel, leaving only two more wedges for later. “Ready to go?”

Adrien got up and headed for the bathroom. “Just a minute,” he said and closed the door.

At the bakery, Marinette tried to be quick. After greeting her parents, she put out cookies on her desk for Tikki and spent some time in the bathroom. Then she took some medicine, ate the lunch her mother prepared for her, and drank some more chamomile tea with it.

It was just what she needed. Her menstrual cramps had started to become apparent again and she did not want to spend the rest of her day getting worse. Now that she was feeling better, she was ready to hang out in the park for the rest of the lunch break. If she had not promised to see her friends there, she might have opted to take a nap instead.

After she gave her mother a kiss goodbye, she dashed out the door. Tikki was still finishing a cookie in her purse. Marinette tried not to jostle her too much.

It was a beautiful day to be outside. She found the entire class had ventured to hang out in the park. Alya was showing Max and Rose her latest Ladyblog video from this morning. Nino and Adrien were in a fighting pose so Nathanael could draw them as a reference for one of his comics. The rest were sitting in the grass chatting.

“Hey!” Alya greeted when Marinette joined them. “Feel better?”

Marinette smiled. “Much better already, what’s everyone doing?”

“Just hanging,” Alya said.

“Are you feeling sick, Marinette?” Rose asked with great concern.

“I’m fine, my Aunt Flo just decided to visit today, worst timing,” Marinette said and laughed dryly.

Rose understood. “Oh no! Don’t you just hate it when that happens? My Aunt Flo is supposed to visit soon too and I was so worried it would be today,” Rose said.

Max started typing on his smartphone, the calculator app visible. “What are the odds you both have an aunt named Flo?”

Alya snorted. “I have an Aunt Flo too,” she said and Max paused. “So do Juleka, Sabrina, Alix, and Mylène… get what I’m saying?”

Max looked at each of the people in question. “I am going to guess she is not really your aunt,” he said but looked like he was still trying to figure it out.

“I have a suspicion Chloe’s Aunt Flo is always visiting, get my drift?” Alya said and Rose hid a laugh behind her hands while Marinette looked slightly scandalized.

“Oh I get it,” Max said. “What an interesting thing to call it, do you all refer to it as such?”

“Sometimes, there are lots of things to call it,” Rose said sweetly. “We just pick them up quickly.”

Max looked at his phone again. “Fascinating,” he said.

“What’s fascinating?” Nino said as he stepped up next to Alya. Adrien was close by.

“We were just talking about what it means when someone says their Aunt Flo is visiting,” Alya explained.

“Wha… wait I got it,” Nino smiled proudly and snapped a finger gun at her. “Lady business.”

“I just never considered the amount of slang that could be used,” Max said is awe. “There must be all sorts of terms used to discuss it discreetly.”

“Juleka calls it the evil monster,” Rose said and raised her hands like claws.

“Could you imagine it as an akuma?” Alya said and chuckled.

“Alya!” Marinette covered her face. “That is not something I want to be associated with it.”

“Why not, it makes sense,” Alya said. “A totally annoying evil being that can pop up unexpectedly, usually with a bad mood intent on ruining everything.”

Rose looked surprised. “It is like an akuma!”

Marinette groaned. “No! No more akuma today!”

“What would a period akuma even look like?” Nino wondered.

“More importantly, what would their powers be like?” Max questioned.

“Maybe make everyone be on their period?” Nino suggested. 

“Even the men?” Max countered.

“Maybe dudes would be forced to feel the symptoms, like cramps and headache and nausea,” Nino offered.

“So they would make everyone feel sick?” Adrien asked.

“And if was at debilitating levels, that _would_ put a lot of people out of commission,” Max reasoned. 

“Not sure if that kind of power would be any good against Ladybug and Chat Noir though,” Nino said.

“Well Ladybug is already a girl, she could tough it out,” Alya interjected.

“Not to mention she probably already has based on the rate of occurrence akuma appear,” Max said.

“Wait, so Ladybug has had to fight even though she’s felt sick?” Adrien asked, but it was more of a statement.

“Probably, unless she’s the type of girl that doesn’t have symptoms, or doesn’t get a period at all for any reason,” Alya said.

“I guess it’s not like Ladybug can take a TLC day, huh,” Rose said. “Paris would be in ruins!”

“Clearly Ladybug is doing fine, so nothing to worry about,” Alya assured.

“I still hope Ladybug gets to take it easy every once in a while, like on the days there isn’t an akuma,” Rose said.

“Me too, girl,” Alya agreed.

“Too bad there wasn’t another hero to help pick up the slack, like when Ladybug and Chat Noir are busy,” Nino said.

“Oh my gosh, Nino!” Alya grabbed him. “After Volpina turned out to be a hoax, what if a real hero actually showed up? That would be a major scoop!”

“…More work for the Ladyblogger?” Nino guessed.

Alya squealed excitedly. “It would be so awesome!”

Nino sighed and looked at Adrien, who patted him sympathetically on the shoulder while Alya continued to be excited.

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to tell if they can be trusted?” Marinette asked.

Alya looked up thoughtfully. “That could be a problem, but a real hero would be able to prove themselves, right? I mean, an akuma has never laid low for long.”

She had a point there. “You’re right,” Marinette said, relieved.

Marinette thought about that periodically for the rest of the afternoon. As she kept herself busy in the café and occasionally admired Adrien play the piano, she wondered about what would happen if another hero came to Paris to help them. How would she know if they were real and telling the truth? Was there some kind of test she and Chat Noir could give to ensure the city remained safe? She would have to talk to Tikki, Chat Noir, and Master Fu about it.

It looked like she had built quite the list of questions to ask Master Fu. Shows how long overdue this meeting would be. Chat Noir probably had plenty of questions too.

“You are really quick at this, Marinette,” Adrien said when it was just the two of them in the kitchen towards the end of the day. She was simply folding napkins.

“Oh, um, yes, thank you, do you have hands?” Marinette asked and paused. “I mean, you’re pretty good with your hands, as in the piano, you play piano well.” She could feel her ears burning with her blush of embarrassment.

Adrien’s eyebrows simply shifted on each side as he carefully followed her words to understand her, as if he was translating another language, before he brightened as he comprehended. “I would hope so, I’ve been taking piano lessons for a long time,” he said.

“Do you like the piano?” she asked.

“It’s alright, just not the instrument I would have picked for myself,” he said with an air of humor.

“What would like to play instead?” she asked.

Adrien looked around first. “Well, I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the drums, like in rock music,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Marinette struggled to imagine Adrien as a rock and roll drummer. “That sounds like it would be fun,” she said and he smiled wider.

“I think so too!” he said happily. “Do you play any instruments, Marinette?”

Marinette shook her head. “Afraid not,” she admitted. “But I always thought learning how to play the electric guitar would be fun, so I could learn Jagged Stone’s songs and rock out whenever I wanted.”

“That sounds like it would be a blast!”

Marinette nodded in agreement with a smile even though she was momentarily dazed by his perfect teeth when he smiled widely. “And don’t laugh, but another instrument I think would be cool to learn how to play is the harp, weird right?” She looked away shyly.

“That’s not weird at all, I think it could be a really neat skill, and I bet you could still play Jagged Stone, in fact, I bet that would sound cool,” he said with such confidence she couldn’t help but brighten.

“Really?” She smiled hopefully.

“Yeah, you know those covers and remixes people do? There’s a lot that manage to sound interesting,” he said. “Anyway, now that you’ve got me thinking about it, I think I have time to play one more song before we go back to school.” He patted her shoulder as he walked away.

Marinette was almost giddy and could not stop smiling. This had to be the best conversation she has ever had with Adrien ever! They actually talked about a common interest like normal people! It was like a dream!

Curiosity quickly sparked and she ran to catch up, but stopped just on the other side of the door where she could see him sit back down at the piano. Lynn spoke to him for a few seconds, and then she had nodded and he smiled.

Marinette squeaked when Adrien caught her eye across the café and winked at her. He clearly had something planned. She guessed he was going to play a rock song on the piano.

What he played instead blew her mind.

It was Jagged Stone’s Ladybug ballad.

Marinette probably reacted exactly like she did the first time she ever heard it at Jagged Stone’s concert. She had been there with Adrien and he said it was his first concert ever. It clearly left an impression on him. She never imagined that he would take the time to learn a song dedicated for Ladybug, for her.

No, this time it was like a dream. Adrien was playing her song for her. Marinette could feel herself floating away.

Everyone’s clapping and applause broke the spell on her and she quickly realized there were a lot more people in the café then there had been a minute ago. Ladybug’s ballad had drawn in many people from outside when they heard the music.

When a few people asked for an encore, Adrien played it again. Marinette was quick to swoon again. Imagine if Adrien knew Ladybug was here!

Wait. Adrien can’t know that! No one can.

Still, a girl can dream. There was no harm in that.

However, her previous realization did put a sizable wrench into her hopeful future plans. It was another thing to talk to Chat Noir and Master Fu about: how to handle significant others when it comes to being a superhero…

Her mind was suddenly overtaken with the fantasy of her heroic side recusing Adrien from an akuma. Ladybug would swing up to the Eiffel Tower with him securely in her arms. They would stand together to overlook the Parisian sunset and he would declare his undying love for her. She would be overwhelmed with happiness and jump into his arms. Each would hold the other tightly while he gazed into her eyes and she gazed into his. They would be on top of the world for their first ki–

What a dream!

“Girl, are you okay?” Alya said and startled Marinette, who flailed awkwardly.

“Alya! Yeah! What’s up?” Marinette grinned awkwardly and leaned on the wall like nothing happened.

“If you’re done drooling over Adrien’s after image, it’s time to head back to school and write our report,” Alya said.

“Oh, hee-hee, yeah, right, of course! What are we waiting for?” Marinette declared and began to march to the door. “Thank you for letting us help in your café, Lynn!” she said.

“Thank you for coming!” Lynn smiled and waved.

They only had an hour left in the school day, just enough time to outline their report as a group and check back in with Miss. Bustier. Everyone seemed sure they could finish the rest of their reports tonight as the homework. Nino planned to stay in the library after school to finish it right away.

When the school day finally ended, Adrien’s phone buzzed with a notification. “Guess it’s time for me go, I have a Chinese lesson after school today.”

“Mondays,” Marinette muttered as Adrien collected his things into his bag.

“That’s right,” Adrien nodded.

“See you later, dude,” Nino waved.

“Yeah, see you later,” Adrien waved and was the first to leave. The girls were finishing up their sentences and were about to pack up as well.

Adrien would have liked to stick around longer, but the car was already waiting for him out front.

As usual, his Chinese lesson lasted for an hour and then he went to his room to finish his homework before dinnertime. After that, he could do whatever he wanted and not be bothered.

As long as everyone thought he was in his room.

He had his own schedule to keep as well.

Once it was well and dark, Chat Noir was on the rooftops. He had a destination in mind as he leapt from one chimney wall to the next. Once he reached the end of the long line of buildings, he paused to survey the street below.

Being so high up, his all black cat suit blended into the darkness, so he was able to see into the brightly lit streets without being noticed. From here he had a great view of Notre-Dame Cathedral and even his school. It was actually a great spot, he found. If he was not already a student at Collège Françoise Dupont, this would have made a great place to keep an eye on the place since there had been so many akuma to come out of that school, namely due to Chloe’s mean streak, and still keep a close eye on the other major places usually hit by akuma nearby. Not to mention it was only about two blocks away from his house, so getting home fast would be easy.

“Chat Noir?”

It appeared he was noticed here after all.

Chat Noir looked down to his right at the rooftop patio below him. That’s right, Marinette lived above the corner bakery here. The girl in question was standing there looking up at him with a confused expression.

Chat Noir waved. “Good evening, decide to come out for some fresh air?”

“Uh yeah,” she said. “What are you doing here?” she asked and then her eyes widened. “Is there an akuma!?”

“No worries, Princess, I’m just out on patrol,” Chat Noir said from his perch.

“Patrol?” she called.

Chat Noir grabbed his baton and extended to the balcony below and gently descended himself to the railing. Now they would not feel the need to shout. “Yes, patrol,” he said. “You know, super hero patrolling the city at night, catching bad guys, honing my skills…”

Marinette seemed perplexed. “Do you really catch akuma at night, without Ladybug?”

Chat Noir simply smiled. “Not like that, I mean the little common stuff without magic,” he explained. “Petty thieves, stalkers, trespassing, public disturbances…” he listed out.

“I haven’t heard about super heroes being involved with stuff like that,” Marinette said.

“You wouldn’t, I’m the black cat, remember? I work well in the dark, so I do just enough to contain the situation and contact the police,” he said and shrugged. “Ladybug protects the city during the day all the time. One time she caught a plane before it could crash, and she rescues cats in trees, and helps out the public.” He smiled fondly. “But I can’t always be there to help unless it’s an akuma level emergency, so I protect the night.”

“Do you patrol every night by yourself?” Marinette asked.

“You’re quite curious.”

“I guess… after all, you’re an amazing super hero.” She batted her eyelashes in an innocent but obvious way.

Chat Noir lifted his chin a little more and smiled. “No, not every night,” he finally said. “I do what I can.”

Marinette looked surprised at first and then she smiled at him. “Well as a citizen of Paris, thank you for looking out for us,” she said.

Chat Noir scratched that back of his head bashfully. “You’re welcome, but since it seems quiet tonight, I thought it would be a good night to train, so I’m heading to one of my spots,” he said.

“Training?” she said with a giggle.

“Super heroes need to hone their skills too,” he defended.

“Wow, you’re so… _cool_.” Did she sound like she was exaggerating the cool bit? Must have been his imagination. Marinette thinks Chat Noir is awesome. She said so herself after he rescued her from Evillustrator.

“I do what I can, Ladybug shouldn’t have to fight all on her own, and if something happened to her, who knows what will happen.”

“So you’re training to protect Ladybug,” she said. It wasn’t really a question, but he nodded anyway.

They fell into silence and he noted the thoughtful look on her face. There was a tiny smile in her eyes along with a sparkle from the fairy lights strung up on her rooftop balcony. She was going to be a stunning woman one day, he could tell.

“Well I hope I didn’t disturb your evening, Purrincess,” he said with a roll of the tongue, “but this cat has some hunting to do.” He twirled his baton in a showy way before extending it to the empty sidewalk below.  “Goodnight!” he beckoned with an exaggerated bow and then he was off without another breath.

Chat Noir leapt and landed next to the water below. Marinette would only be able to see him for a moment before he disappeared into the shadows of the canal.

Even at night there were people around. Sometimes workers, people talking a stroll, homeless people, or teenagers hanging out under the bridges where they thought they would not get caught.

He was able to leap through the shadows unseen. It was nice to not be noticed. As a bit of a celebrity no matter which name he went by, he was noticed nearly everywhere he went during the day. With super powers and a black suit that made no noise as he moved, he could be invisible in the darkness when he wanted to be. Just like a black cat lurking in the trees.

Some distance along the Seine, there was a bridge that was almost always empty. It was obviously busy during the day and likely well into the evening, but by the time Chat Noir arrived this late at night, it was deserted. He checked around just to be sure.

He watched a rat scurry along the wall under the bridge. As long as he remained still, the rat would not look his way. The moment he landed on ground below the bridge, the rat panicked and ran back the way it came.

Chat Noir gave a small sympathetic look. He did not mean to scare the little guy like that. Granted the rat had every reason to run away from a cat of his size. He chuckled at that thought.

Rolling his neck and shoulders, he pulled his baton from his back and extended into a staff, gently twirling it around.

He went through a routine set of steps, lunges, and turns. Just for kicks, he balanced his staff on the stone ground with his hand pushed against the top end. Very carefully, he lifted himself up into a one-handed handstand balanced on top of the staff.

“What are you doing?” It was none other than Ladybug’s voice that startled him and caused him to fall disgracefully.

Chat Noir had flailed in the air and landed on his hands and knees. His staff fell to the ground with a metal clatter and rolled away. The ears on top of his head stood straight up in surprise during the whole thing. He was quick to stand and face Ladybug. “Good evening, My Lady, what brings you all the way out here? Did you come to see me?” he said with a wink.

Ladybug stepped forward to pick up the staff before approaching him. She looked around and then at him, to which he tilted his head to the side. “Are you training?” she asked.

“Why yes I am, care to join me?” he said and leaned forward.

Ladybug looked at the staff in her hands and then stepped away from Chat Noir. He raised an eyebrow as she slowly twirled the staff in front of her with both hands. “Hm, actually, that might not be a bad idea,” she said.

“You look like you want to train with my staff,” he said.

Ladybug tossed the staff back to him and he caught it with one hand. It shrank back into a baton.

“Maybe I should learn how to wield a staff too,” she said. She pulled her yoyo from her hip and looked at it before her eyes settled on Chat Noir again. “And maybe you could learn how to use something like my yoyo, like the grappling hook ability,” she offered.

“Any reason for this idea?” Chat Noir asked.

“We’re partners, Chat, wouldn’t it help us fight together better against Hawkmoth?”

“You make a good point, so here,” he said and tossed the baton back to her. She caught it with both hands. “You’ve used your yoyo on that thing before,” he said.

“I’ve also used the staff against you when you were turned against me a couple times,” she said.

“Oh?” he remarked and watched her moved her thumb against the flat seamless buttons of the paw print design on the staff. “So you know it’s also controlled by willpower?”

With a light squeeze of the baton, it turned into a staff. “Yep,” she said. She spun it around, not a quick as when Chat Noir wielded it.

“Here, I’ll grab some stuff for you to hit,” Chat Noir said. Ladybug watched him with an amused look when he grabbed empty cans out of a recycle bin. “Ready?” He tossed up one of the cans in his hand a couple times.

Ladybug squeezed the staff again so one side retracted back. Then she held it by the handle  at the end and readied the staff like a bat, much like Chat Noir had done before. “Ready!”

He threw it straight for her and she swung and missed. He chuckled but didn’t comment. “Get ready for the next one,” he said and she did. This time she hit it and it flew off at an angle.

He only had one more can. “Okay, last one, I’ll hit it right this time,” she smirked.

“I bet you will,” he said and readied his throw while she pulled the staff back into position, ready to swing.

He threw straight once again, but it had a little more speed than the other two tosses and she swung faster so she wouldn’t miss again. All she registered was a loud clink of the metal and then a smack.

“Oaf!”

The can flew straight back at Chat Noir so fast, it hit him the face.

Ladybug looked on in shock while he held his nose. His posture was curled in as he leaned over, knees together and tail ridged.

It looked rather silly actually and she had to cover her mouth to keep the giggle from escaping. “Are you alright?” she said, a shake in her voice.

“That was… quite the hit, My Lady,” he said, “I should have expected that.”

“Sorry.”

He slowly pulled his hands away and straightened. He was not bleeding or anything, but it was a bit of a shock. After he wiggled his nose he smiled at her. “Nice shot.”

“Couldn’t do that again if I tried,” she said.

“So how did it feel?”

“Hitting a can back in your face? Surprisingly satisfying.”

“Meowch.”

“The staff itself…” she tossed it back to him and he caught it with one hand, “I think it’s not really my thing, but still good to be familiar with it just in case.”

“Good,” Chat Noir said.

“Your turn,” Ladybug said.

“Hm?” he questioned when he put his staff away, but was quickly forced to catch Ladybug’s yoyo. “What do you want me to do with this? Only you can use its magic.”

“Are you sure?” Ladybug gestured the device in his hand.

Chat Noir looked at it and then pressed the center dot. Nothing happened. “I’m sure,” he said with a light chuckle. He tossed it back to her.

“You don’t want to give it a spin?”

“I’ll practice with something else first,” he said. “It’s kind of late and it’s a school night, this cat needs his beauty sleep.”

Ladybug understood. “Don’t forget to meet at Master Fu’s tomorrow,” she said.

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Chat Noir bowed and then jumped up to the bridge above them before leaping out of sight.  

Ladybug was not sure what to think of her short visit with Chat Noir that night. When he left, she returned home. They had not simply hung out like that before and she always figured that he would try to make it last as long as possible when they finally did. Maybe he had wanted to be alone? Or he really did only have a short window to train a little before heading home?

She wasn’t sure if she could ask him.

There were already so many questions.

Maybe she was just reading too much into it.

Marinette was almost too anxious about her meeting with Master Fu and Chat Noir tomorrow. Sleep eventually came, just not as easily as she would have liked. This meeting was so overdue and she wondered what they would cover first.

* * *

 

The next morning was a bit like the previous. Her mother made chamomile tea to supplement her normal medicine to ease her cramps before school. Being day two of her menstrual cycle, she was extra groggy and sluggish today.

Marinette and Alya met just inside of the school and were heading up the stairs to their homeroom classroom. Her back still ached and the tenth yawn escaped her. The day had not even started yet and she was ready for it to be over so she could just crawl back into bed. Had her attendance record not already been spotty, she might have taken the morning off.

“Wow, Chloe! You made it such a success!” Sabrina was beaming when Marinette and Alya reached the classroom.

“I know, I’m so charitable,” Chloe said and gestured herself. “The fundraiser would have been a total letdown if it weren’t for me.”

Marinette went to her seat quietly. Alya chose to do the same. Since they weren’t in the classroom yesterday, she forgot all about Chloe and the fundraiser Adrien had mentioned. It looked like he was right about that.

“Adrikins, good morning!” Chloe exclaimed the moment Adrien entered the classroom.

“Good morning, Chloe, you seem to be in a good mood,” Adrien said and took his seat.

“The fundraiser went splendidly thanks to yours truly, it was even better than last year’s event,” Chloe said.

“That’s great, I’m sure your mother would be proud,” he said.

“You think so too?” It wasn’t really a question. “Ever since she started it when she was still in treatment, I’ve worked hard to make it even better. You really should have been there.”

“I am sure Father made a donation,” Adrien said.

“Yo, wassup?” Nino greeted as he slipped into his seat.

“Chloe was just telling Adrien how much money she raised at yesterday’s charity fundraiser for Cancer Research,” Sabrina boasted.

“Cool dudes,” Nino said and leaned back, bobbing his head to his music. It was unclear whether or not he actually listened to what they were saying.

Marinette had no idea Chloe actually cared about Cancer Research.

“I think this year I’ll finally be awarded by the foundation for my amazing work,” Chloe said.

Or not…

“If that’s what makes you happy,” Adrien said. “I’m sure the foundation appreciates your dedication.”

Chloe leaned on Adrien’s desk. “I’m a very dedicated person.” She looked like she might say more, but the teacher entered and stood before them.

“As long as you are dedicated to your schoolwork,” Miss. Bustier cut in. “Please take your seat.”

Chloe complied without complaint and the other students turned their attention to the front of the room as well.

They fell into routine and the day progressed quickly. The reports were turned in and the next lessons began. It was going to be the last unit for the school year. There was a lot of new information, but it was nothing they were not used to by now.

At the end of the day, they were packing up their things when Marinette caught Nino and Adrien’s conversation in the seat in front of her.

“Dude, you free to hang for a while?” Nino asked.

“I have somewhere to be this afternoon,” Adrien said.

“Bro, again?”

“Sorry,” Adrien said. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Sure man, no probs,” Nino said. “Take it easy.”

“See ya,” Adrien waved and was about to leave when Chloe stopped him.

“Adrien, do you have a minute?” she asked.

“Uh… I have to–”

“It’ll be just a minute of your time, honest,” she said.

“What is it?”

“I just wanted to ask you about your summer vacation plans, you know Daddy was thinking about letting me go on a cruise,” Chloe said.

“I don’t have anything planned yet, but I will be working,” Adrien said.

“Aw, that’s too bad, well a luxurious cruise is just what we need, it would be great if you could come along too,” she said.

Adrien shifted on his feet. “Well I have a feeling I’ll only be able to convince Father to let me do one thing this summer and I already asked him if I could go camping with Nino.”

“Camping?” Chloe looked disgusted.

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted to go camping, away from all noise and technology,” he said and Chloe was quick to pocket her smartphone.

“Be roughing it in the wilderness!” Nino added and fist bumped Adrien. “Sleeping under the stars, foraging plants, swimming in a lake, and digging a latrine!”

Chloe’s expression grew horrified. “Ugh! You actually want to do that? It sounds so… _dirty_.”

“I think it sounds fun,” Adrien said.

“Whatever, go roll around in the dirt all you want, if you change your mind or if you have time for another, more luxurious vacation, you know where to find me,” Chloe said.

She and Sabrina quickly left and Adrien made sure she was out of earshot before turning back to Nino with a concerned look. “…Would we really be doing all that stuff you said?”

“Nah,” Nino said with a laugh. “We’d be renting a cabin for a night, the only thing I said that might be true is swimming.”

Adrien smiled. “That part did sound fun.”

“The rest of the summer, we’re gonna take every chance we can to hang out and do whatever we want around here.”

“Sounds great, Nino,” Adrien said with a smile. “Well I have to go, the car is waiting for me.”

“See you later, dude!”

Alya bumped Nino with her hip a second later. “What about me?”

“Hm?” Nino tilted his head to the side.

“Aren’t we going to make summer vacation plans?” Alya asked.

“Oh right, yeah,” he said with a grin. “Adrien just needs a lot of heads up to be able to do anything fun, you know?”

“Bromance before romance?”

Nino laughed. “Just sometimes,” he admitted. “You know I'm planning us an epic date.”

“For me or for Adrien?” Alya teased.

“Only you,” he said with a chuckle. “Are we still going to the library to study today?”

“It’s a date,” Alya said with a wink and a laugh. “Wanna join, Marinette?”

“You go on ahead, I have something to do,” she said.

“Alright, see ya, girl,” Alya said.

Marinette left with a wave to head for home.

Her mother simply asked her to take out the trash when she got home. After that, she was able to say she was going to use the bathroom and then go back to school to study in the library. Master Fu’s place was close by, but she had a couple of great places to transform.

Since it was still daylight, she stuck to the rooftops until she arrived. With a zip and a leap, she entered Master Fu’s parlor and closed the door behind her.

“Master Fu?” Ladybug called up the stairs as she ascended to the room she met with him before.

“Welcome, Ladybug,” Master Fu greeted at the door. “I am glad were able to contact Chat Noir for this meeting so soon.”

“So soon? This meeting seemed long overdue when I thought about it,” she said and Master Fu simply laughed.

“That may be so, please come in, Chat Noir arrived just a moment ago.” Master Fu stepped aside and Ladybug noticed a slightly different setup to the room. There was the addition of a Chinese privacy screen positioned perpendicular to Master Fu’s work area.

“Good afternoon, LB,” Chat Noir was already seated on one side of the screen and he looked over his shoulder at her to wave.

“I see you found your way easy enough,” Ladybug greeted her partner.

“You were right, Plagg knew the way,” Chat Noir said.

“Ladybug, please take a seat on the other side of the screen,” Master Fu instructed and stepped around Chat Noir to sit before them.

Ladybug cast Chat Noir one last glance before moving to sit. It was a little weird for a screen to separate them like this. She couldn’t see him at all.

That’s when she realized that was the point.

“Now you may release your transformations so Tikki and Plagg can be a part of the conversation.”

Ladybug whispered a quick, “Spots off.” Chat Noir did not say anything, but his transformation released at the same time.

“This better be good, this meeting is seriously cutting into my afternoon snack time,” Plagg complained.

“You knew this day was coming, Plagg,” Tikki said from the other side of the screen.

Plagg sighed and groaned. “Well get on with it.”

“Wayzz, the turtle kwami of the Miraculous Bracelet,” Master Fu reintroduced and Wayzz bowed in the air next to him. “You may not remember me, but I was there the day you each received your miraculous, the earrings and the ring.”

Marinette’s lips parted, about to question, but she decided to wait. Chat Noir blinked and looked closer at the old man.

“I… remember you,” Adrien said and Master Fu offered a smile and nod.

“You must have many questions about your mission to stop Hawkmoth,” Master Fu began. “But first, Tikki and Plagg, you have watched and guided your heroes for some time now, what do you think them?” Master Fu had a humorous glint as he smiled.

Tikki went first. “She has been learning fast and she works well with Chat Noir. She is brave and resourceful, as a true Ladybug should be.”

“Very good,” Master Fu said. “Plagg?”

Plagg looked at Adrien for a moment and then lounged back in the air. “He’s a good kid,” he said simply.

Master Fu nodded. “Now what would you like to ask me?”

Adrien raised his hand. He didn’t want to talk over Ladybug. When she remained silent, Master Fu gestured to his side of the screen.

“Do you know anything about Hawkmoth?” Adrien asked, cutting right to chase. “Anything that could, I don’t know, help us find him or stop him for good?”

“I know he is in the city, and I have spent a lot of time going places and observing the people of Paris, but I do not yet have an answer to help with his location.”

“Since you know who we are, do you know who Hawkmoth really is?” Adrien asked.

Master Fu hesitated. “Whoever he is, he is not the person who was meant to be in possession of the Butterfly Miraculous.”

“Oh…” Adrien deflated.

The two were silent and Wayzz looked to Master Fu, who sighed. “As you know, your battle against Hawkmoth cannot go on forever, and I sense he will take more drastic approaches to get to you, so with this in mind I should tell you that I am seeking others suitable to wield a miraculous and aid you.”

“There’s more?” Marinette said suddenly. She saw some in that weird book, but she had no way of telling who was a hero or what. The Ladybug and Chat Noir in the book only slightly resembled them now.

“There are two more in my possession and the kwami are quite picky, so their partners need to be chosen wisely, there will be no room for mistakes,” he went on, “I have been watching their selected potential candidates carefully, but they have yet to pass my test to demonstrate they are ready and will be able to use the miraculous wisely. Both of you passed my test right away, proving yourselves worthy of the Ladybug and Black Cat, the core miraculouses.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand, what test? How do you choose?” Marinette asked.

Master Fu chuckled. “Well actually, I don’t choose the person, the kwami does under normal circumstances when they are allowed, because they know best. I make sure their chosen is as ready as possible before bestowing them their miraculous. As you remember, Hawkmoth’s appearance was sudden and fierce, so I had to act and find you both quickly since time was not a luxury. From what I sensed, Ladybug was barely ready while Chat Noir was more than ready.”

“Guess we really do balance each other out,” Adrien mused through the screen.

“If someone is not ready, it could fall into the wrong person’s hands instead, leading to future disasters,” Master Fu explained and Marinette looked away guiltily. “It’s quite alright Ladybug, I know you had your doubts in the beginning, but you came through.”

“I knew she would!” Tikki piped in cheerily.

“There are many magical beings in this world, as you may have seen in the book. For now, I need you to be ready to accept help from new heroes should their time come.”

“I can accept that,” Marinette said. “Chat Noir and I have a solid partnership that has been successful against akuma, but I can see where we could use a hand against Hawkmoth himself.”

Master Fu smiled at that. “That is good to hear. It is important Ladybug and Chat Noir form strong bonds of companionship and trust. Now tell me, do you know anything about the concept of yin and yang?”

“Balance,” Adrien said.

“Yes, you balance each other,” Master Fu said and put his hands together. “Tikki and Plagg may guide and influence you as heroes, but Ladybug and Chat Noir guide and influence each other as well.”

“Chat Noir and I, we make an unstoppable team,” Marinette said. She had said it before and she would say it again. It was something she truly believed.

“I have observed your fights on many occasions, ready to step in and help if need be in a dire situation, and speaking with you now makes me more confident you are ready to share your identities with each other.”

“Really?” Adrien perked up. “I mean, right now?”

Master Fu looked to Ladybug’s side of the screen and Adrien looked at the screen where he knew Ladybug was sitting. She was silent and Adrien frowned.

“You do not have to,” Master Fu assured. “When the time is right, you will know.”

“I admit it would be a relief not to have to tiptoe around each other,” Adrien said.

“…I don’t think now is the time,” Marinette said.

“Ladybug?” Adrien asked with concern.

“Is that okay with you, Chat?” she asked.

“…Of course it is, My Lady,” Adrien said. “Whenever… if you want to, I trust your instincts.” 

“Thank you,” she said quietly. He could tell she was in deep thought.

“Master Fu, say we retrieve Hawkmoth’s miraculous, what should we do then?” Adrien asked, clearly drawing the conversation back to the mission at hand. “I’ve been wondering… do we turn Hawkmoth in, let him go, or…?”

Wayzz answered this time. “Hawkmoth must be subdued and brought to my master. Your modern laws are not equipped for the crime he has committed. Once Nooroo is safe and no longer bound to Hawkmtoh, then Nooroo, myself, and all the other kwami of our guild will vanquish the seeds of evil in his heart, if he survives with his memory intact and still poses a threat without magic, then your laws may have something to do.”

A phone chimed and buzzed. “Ah, sorry I guess my time is up,” Adrien said.

Master Fu nodded in understanding. “Do return soon, I would like to meet with Plagg and teach you more about your side of the core miraculous powers,” he said. “And talk about this book,” he said. Adrien swallowed as he looked at the book next to Master Fu, but knew he couldn’t say anything with Ladybug here.

“Yes, I’ll be sure to come back soon, I have so many questions,” he said. “Claws out.” There was a flash on one side the screen and then a pause. “LB, I can’t leave if you’re you on the other side,” he said.

“Spots on,” she said and another flashed filled the room.

Chat Noir walked to the door and opened it before turning back. “Sorry I have to go so early,” he said. “Is there a good time to come back?”

“Chat Noir is also welcome anytime,” Master Fu assured.

“I would still like to schedule to continue this meeting, is Friday afternoon alright?” Chat Noir asked.

“Of course, Ladybug?” Master Fu asked.

“Y-yes, I can be back then,” she said.

The three exchanged polite goodbyes and Chat Noir was off. Ladybug hesitated. “What troubles you?”

She shook her head, unsure what to say. “I should head home too, but can I come back tomorrow?” she asked.

“Please do,” he said. “I will be waiting.”

Ladybug smiled. “Thank you, but I’ll try to not make you wait too long.”

When Ladybug left, she wasn’t sure whether to feel better or disappointed. She felt better knowing there was going to be progress made and now she knew was to expect from these meetings. But she was also disappointed they didn’t get to talk much and few questions were answered.

A part of her was hoping they would cut to the chase, and that Chat Noir would initiate revealing their identities so they didn’t have to sit on opposite sides of a screen like that. It was solely up to her now. Master Fu thought they were ready and Chat Noir made a valid point. Tip-toeing around each other would only work so much longer. Eventually they may find themselves in a situation where they won’t be able to hide from each other.

They should not have to hide from each other. Chat Noir is her partner and she trusts him. He trusts her too. There was no reason they couldn’t handle keeping the other’s identity safe at this point.

Maybe at the next meeting, she’ll be ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even Marinette fantasies about Ladrien ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Thanks for reading. I have other Ladybug stories I'm going to be posting if you want to check them out. I just posting one and another will be coming soon.


	4. Hi Hello Hey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe finds genuine joy in making a positive difference? Adrien gets to make summer break plans? Ladybug gets in Chat Noir's personal space? What is happening!?  
> But most importantly, who is ready for a reveal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note that Antibug is the last time Chloe is responsible for an akuma in my #episode order (I should probably post it on tumblr and link to that, hm...), so the last 4 episodes on my list are Horrificator, Antibug, Simon Says, and then Volpina as the finale... just in case Chloe's redemption arc started right then at the end of Antibug.

Mayor Andre Bourgeois and his teenaged daughter, Chloe, shared an evening meal together in the restaurant of the Le Grand Paris, the five-star hotel Mayor Bourgeois owned. He pleasantly nodded along as his daughter chatted about the fundraiser’s success.

“That’s so good to hear, my dear, I knew I could count on you,” he beamed.

Chloe smiled and took a quick sip of water. She had been talking so long, she her mouth went a little dry. “Do you think I can do another one?” she asked.

Her father blinked at her for a second. “It’s an annual event, my sweet, there won’t be another one until next year.”

Chloe pulled her lips to the side in thought for a moment. “What about for something else?”

“Something else?”

“This one was to support cancer research, there are plenty of other charities I could be a part of,” she reasoned.

Her father thought for a moment before nodding with a smile. “That’s a wonderful idea, Chloe, what else would you like to support? There are so many, so I’m afraid we can’t support them all and there are many we donate to on a regular basis for Paris.”

“Mom started this one and it’s become so big now, maybe I can start one too?”

Chloe stopped when one of the staff approached to whisper to the Mayor.

“Oh right, of course,” he said and placed his cutlery down and removed his napkin from his lap to pat his mouth before standing. “I would love to hear all about it, Chloe,” he said and stepped around the table to kiss his daughter’s head. “But I have to take a call.”

“Sure Daddy, I understand,” she said as sweetly as she could. As soon as the door closed, her smile dropped with an irritated sight. She gazed back at her meal with little appetite.

He wasn’t going to return to dinner after his call. Never did. The butler was already cleaning up her father’s dishes and she was even more alone at the table, surrounded by many other tables just like it around the restaurant. For a minute, Chloe was all alone while the dishes were being taken away and she picked at the pasta on her plate and absentmindedly scrolled through a fashion blog on her smartphone.

“I am sure you will get to tell your father all about your idea tomorrow,” the butler assured when he returned. Chloe simply nodded, knowing it was true. “May I ask what you have in mind for a charity?”

Chloe looked up at him and smiled a little. “I was just thinking, Ladybug’s image is being used for some charities already, but there isn’t really anything to help Ladybug.”

“I do not think Ladybug needs charity.”

Chloe nodded. “Exactly, but what about her cause? She helped me and stayed to talk to me, gave me advice about my problems during the little time she had left after she purified my akuma. I was lucky to get that,” she said.

“You are a very fortunate young lady.”

“When she’s fighting bad guys, she can’t be there for all of us all the time, so maybe… I was thinking about ways to help akuma victims deal with their problems… somehow.”

Her butler had placed a hand on her shoulder. “You may not be a superhero like Ladybug, but that sounds like a noble thing, Miss Chloe, and I’m sure your father will think it’s a splendid idea.”

“Really?” Chloe smiled widely.

He nodded. “Why don’t you brainstorm some ways to make your idea possible? That way you can discuss them with your father later.”

Chloe stood abruptly. “I’ve so got this! I have so many ideas!” Then ran off while her butler gave a short chuckle behind his hand. It was nice to see Chloe so excited about something that meant a lot to her… and that had nothing to do with herself.

* * *

Marinette had a short visit with Master Fu by herself after school. She even brought him some macha and vanilla macarons from her family’s bakery. Unfortunately, he told her he was expecting a visitor and she couldn’t stay long, especially to discuss miraculous secrets.

Her trip had not been for nothing. Master Fu sent her home with a small packet of reading material, to educate herself on Ladybug and Miraculous history. When she flipped through the packet, she found stories and legends of leaders and heroes around the world and over many centuries. She wasn’t sure how it was going to help against Hawkmoth, but better understanding her own powers had to help somehow.

When she stepped outside and back onto the sidewalk, she didn’t even notice a familiar car parked just outside and an even more familiar face stepping out of the back seat as their very large bodyguard held the door open.

“Hello, Marinette,” Adrien waved.

“Ack! She jumped and looked at him with wide eyes. “Oh, Adrien hi! Hello! Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I have an appointment for a natural Chinese muscle therapy ointment,” he said and gestured to Master Fu’s storefront.

“Oh haaa that’s great, I was just,” she quickly hid the packet behind her back, “I was just dropping off an order of macarons… from my parents bakery, they own a bakery you see!”

Adrien simply smiled. “Oh yes, I remember, your mother let me try a salmon and spinach quiche once, it was great.”

“Oh yeah, that’s great!” Marinette grinned awkwardly for a moment until she realized she was blocking the doorway. “Oh! Uh, have a nice, relaxing… appointment then, see you at school!” she waved and walked away stiffly and even continued to wave and grin.

“Thank you, see you at school,” he waved and started for the door.

When Marinette finally turned to walk down the sidewalk, Adrien paused as he reached for the door handle. For a second, he watched Marinette leave until other pedestrians blocked his view. With a focusing blink he went inside.

“Plagg, you don’t think that…” Adrien trailed off as Plagg zipped up to float alongside Adrien. “Nevermind, forget it.”

Plagg didn’t respond as they climbed the stairs. Master Fu opened the door for them and let them in.

“Good afternoon,” Adrien greeted.

“It’s good to see you again,” Master Fu began. “I have something for you.”

Adrien blinked while Master Fu turned retrieve it. Master Fu presented him with a small jar and the Miraculous Book. “My book!” he quickly took it with both hands as the small jar rested on the cover. “You’re really giving this back to me?”

Master stroked his beard with a sly look. “That is a copy I had made to replace the one you lost, the real one must stay with me, I hope this one will ease your conscious of it going missing from your home.”

Adrien let out a breath. “Thank you, I don’t know if Father has noticed it’s gone yet… he hasn’t said anything yet, so I hope this works.”

“As for the other item,” Master Fu started. “It’s a healing ointment made from an ancient Chinese recipe. It will help your wounds and aches heal faster after battles and training.”

“How do you know I’ve been training?” Adrien asked as he placed the fake book under his arm so he could open the jar. The jelly inside was grey and smelled slightly minty.

Master Fu simply gave a short chuckle as he turned to sit down on the mat in the room. “What if I were to tell you that you have only just scratched the surface of your powers?”

Adrien gapped and then looked at the black kwami on his shoulder. “Plagg?”

“When you are ready, you will learn more,” Master Fu said. “The black cat of misfortune and destruction acts to support and balance Ladybug, whom possesses the power of fortune and creation.”

Adrien nodded. He understood all that. When it came to learning he could have more power or abilities, he chalked it up to leveling up in a video game. He could practice and learn, and eventually his hard work will pay off.

“Before you can take on Hawkmoth directly, you and Ladybug need to train,” Master Fu said.

“Preferably together, so Tikki and Plagg can be present,” Wyazz added.

Adrien was quick to realize what that meant. It meant they couldn’t start getting stronger until they were able to be together without their suits and masks. They would have to train without the aid of their powers. It was likely an inner strength they would have to hone, whether be mental or spiritual.

“I understand, Ladybug and Chat Noir are a team, we should do this together,” Adrien said and the other two nodded.

“See? I told you,” Plagg said. “He’s a good one.”

Adrien slipped the book and the jar into his shoulder bag. “Thank you for these,” he said, “I’m sure they will help a lot.”

Master Fu nodded. “Do you plan on returning any time before our meeting with Ladybug?”

Adrien shook his head. “I do not, see you then.”

Sometime after Adrien returned home and when Natalie was nowhere in sight, he was quick to slip the fake book into the safe behind the abstract painting of his mother in his father’s office with Plagg’s help. Plagg was in charge of telling him when the coast was clear and opening the safe from the inside.

As soon as everything was closed up, Adrien did not even spare a glance at his mother’s portrait before dashing back to the door, intent on going right upstairs to his room like nothing ever happened.

“Adrien,” his father’s voice echoed through the foyer as soon as Adrien’s foot touched the first step upstairs.

Adrien halted. “Uh, yes?” He turned to see his father standing in the now open doorway of the dining room.

“Did you need me for something?”

Adrien’s heart thudded in panic. “Uh, no it’s not important, it can wait,” he said.

“Are you ready for dinner? Come sit.”

Adrien released a breath when his father turned back into the dining room. When he followed, his father did not sit at the dining table, and instead moved around it to sit in the armchair by the fireplace to wait until dinner was served. As his father instructed, Adrien took a seat by the fireplace too, just on the adjacent sofa.

Adrien watched in silence as his father picked up a tablet from the armrest and tapped through some screens for a minute. All Adrien was able to see was the G emblem of the Gabriel band when the tablet was angled just right. He was probably working.

“What are your plans for summer vacation?” Gabriel asked suddenly and Adrien stiffened.

“I would like to make plans to go camping,” he said.

“And?”

“Hm?” Adrien blinked.

“Summer breaks at your age are quite long, how do you plan to fill your time?”

Adrien knew the answer he was supposed to give. How he was going to continue his studies, activities, and work. “I am going to exercise more and…” he trailed off. He wanted to say all the things he preferred to do. He wanted to sleep in, go swimming, watch movies, and hang out in the park with his friends…  

“Are you planning on slacking off?”

“No, Father,” he said automatically. “Is Nathalie still organizing my activities?”

His father put the tablet down and laced his fingers together on his lap. “Yes, all your regular activities will resume on schedule, if your summer plans interferes with those appointments, Nathalie will reschedule with your tutors and instructors, but only do so sparingly.”

Adrien perked up.

“I expect you to be on your best behavior, and your bodyguard will continue to drive you wherever you need to go.”

Was this really happening? It sounded like he was being given _freedom_.

“Nathalie will let you know when fittings and photoshoots will take place this summer on a biweekly basis, your social activities will have to be planned around those, no exceptions.”

Adrien nodded quickly. “Yes, Father.” Since he was smiling, his father smiled too.

“You are so much like your mother,” he mused and glanced up at the family portrait above the fireplace. “She was not one to stay home during the summer either.”

Adrien looked up at the portrait and smiled too. “I remember.” They used to travel together every summer, usually lining up family vacations with fashion tours so his Father could be a part of it even when he had fashion industry events to attend. His mother was a master planner like that. They had been to Milan, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo…

“Make sure you let either me or Nathalie know where you are at all times,” his father continued. “If you see a movie with your classmates and then decide to go somewhere after, be sure to inform us.”

“Yes, Father.” Adrien was beaming. His fingers were itching to text Nino right now!

“Recognize these are privileges, Adrien, act responsibly,” his father said in warning.

Behind him, the table was being set for the two them. It had been a long time since she shared a meal with his father. He wondered what put him in such a good mood all of a sudden. Maybe making Adrien happy was the goal.

Maybe it was a test…

That thought made him nervous.

Maybe his father wanted to know just how much security he needed and how many more activities to schedule to fill his son’s time. Making sure he never had free time to begin with if he stepped out of line for even a second.

As they ate their dinner, Adrien was honest about his summer plans. Between Chinese, fencing, piano, and summer tutoring to make sure he stays ahead and gets ready for university early, he planned to exercise more, rest when he can, maybe start a new hobby–namely a craft like mechanical or even writing, since nearly everyone in his class had such neat and creative hobbies. Then there was his camping trip with Nino, but that would be short and easy to plan. His father patiently listened and occasionally asked a question, such as when he was asked to elaborate on taking up a hobby.

Altogether, it sounded like Adrien was going to have very busy and productive summer. Without school and little less work to worry about, his double life would be safely hidden.

Chat Noir snuck out that night with high spirits. He practically skipped over chimneys on his way to one of his training spots. Thinking about spots, he wondered if he should try to call Ladybug to meet him there so they could train together, much like last time. Even if they only talked, if would be perfect to get to spend the end of his day with her before he went to bed. There was nothing he would rather do.

With a leap and a spin, he landed under the bridge he liked to train at.

“Looks like the stray cat finally decided to show up,” Ladybug said.

Chat Noir’s smile nearly split his face. “Aw Bugaboo, couldn’t wait to see me? Here I was thinking I would have to catcall you.”

“I was training, you said it was a good place,” she said with a spin of her yoyo.

“I’m honored,” he said with a bow, but then he saw Ladybug’s yoyo string wrap around him and pin his arms to his sides. “My Lady?” he said with a slight warning.

“Gotcha!” She winked with a giggle and released him. “My point.”

“Oh, so we’re going to play a little cat and mouse game, are we?” He spun his staff and readied for battle.

“Cat and bug,” she corrected. “We’ll see who comes out on top, Chaton.”

“Believe me, My Lady, the thought of you being on top doesn’t bother me in the slightest…” He quickly realized how suggestive that sounded. Well, it was true in just about every sense, may as well own up to it. While she gave him a flat look, he winked at her.

Her shoulders dropped and she rolled her eyes. “Are you in heat or something?”

“Excuse me, male cats do not go into heat,” he defended.

“Oh, so I only have you to blame?” She readied her yoyo.

“Hardly, have you looked in a mewrror?” He said and then continued. “Because meo–OW!” She smacked him the face with her yoyo.  Just like before, he rubbed his nose. “How cruel! Animal cruelty!”

“My point,” she said.

“Hey now, let’s lay down some ground rules,” he said with a finger raised. “Points are for capture, not hitting your partner in the face.”

“Fine,” Ladybug said and lassoed him again, to which he gave her an irritated look. He really should have seen that one coming. “Point, now I have two and you have zero.”

“Does capturing your heart count?” He waggled his eyebrows.

She released her yoyo. “Be serious, we’re training, you can’t flirt the whole time.”

_Was that a challenge?_

“I suppose it’s my turn then,” he said. “I’ll chase you.”

“Catch me if you can, little kitty,” she taunted. She swung her yoyo and zipped away. With a laugh, he vaulted up to follow and give chase.

He decided it was a great night. Their little game was the most fun they ever had together. There were no threats or akuma to focus on. They were able to focus entirely on each other and the way they each moved to be able to read each other’s movements and body language better.

They teased and laughed around the city. She had a much greater advantage in this, being able to use her yoyo as a lasso to capture him from a distance. He managed to capture her a few times too, having the advantages of his all black attire, enhanced night vision, and much longer limbs to wrap around her.

Their little training game eventually took them to the Eiffel Tower. They swung and jumped around the many beams, going higher and higher.

Chat Noir dodged Ladybug’s yoyo by slipping around a beam just in time. “Almost had me there!” he chuckled and then dodged another by going behind the beam again.

“Where did you go?” Ladybug shouted and looked around where he seemingly disappeared. “You sneaky cat!”

“I have to say…” Chat Noir’s voice echoed in the night. Ladybug threw her yoyo in the direction she thought it came from, but found the space empty. “The view is always great when I’m the one chasing you.”

Ladybug flushed red. “You tomcat!” she shouted to which he chuckled.

“Oh my, what ever do you think I am referring to?” he asked, voice dripping with sarcastic innocence.

The metal tip of his tail happened to catch the light as he jumped somewhere off to the side to get to the beam she was already standing on. She saw that tiny bit of silver and threw her yoyo, catching him around the shoulders right as he landed.

He looked surprised for a moment, but then suddenly smirked, causing her brief smirk to fall. Quick on his feet, he crouched and spun around, wrapping the string of the yoyo around himself more and dragging her closer before she had a chance to pull back or release ring of the string attached to her finger.

Ladybug squeaked and tried to dig in her heels, but suddenly slammed into Chat Noir’s chest as he caught her and held his staff firmly behind her to act a blockade. He held her tight so she couldn’t move her arms out from between them. His legs stood outside of hers, making her unable to regain her stance.

“Who has who now?” he asked cockily after she wiggled experimentally. She was stuck.

“I caught you first!” she defended, glaring up at him. They were nearly nose to nose when they looked at each other.

“But you see, if you were an akuma, we would have the advantage right now, because then Ladybug would defeat the akuma and save me,” he reasoned.

“You can’t just use yourself as bait, Chat Noir!” Ladybug struggled again and he was about to release her with a chuckle and a witty remark, but suddenly froze and stood straight up stiffly on his toes as his eye blew wide.

“Okayokay stopstopstop!” he yelped and dropped his staff. The metal on metal clinked loudly.

It only took a moment for Ladybug to notice how far up she shoved her thigh in her attempt to push him. Her eyes blew wide as she dropped her yoyo and stepped back hurriedly. She saw him drop back down flat on his feet and release a breath as the yoyo string slipped off him and pooled at his feet.

“S-sorry I didn’t mean to smash your–just sorry!”

Chat Noir flushed under his mask and coughed awkwardly into his fist. “No harm done, My Lady, just a close one,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “I guess the point is yours, I would have been defeated in seconds.”

“Chat…” she began worriedly.

“Well this was fun!” Chat Noir spoke over her. “We sure trained for a long time, it must be late now!”

Ladybug gasped. He was right! She should have been in bed long ago. “I completely lost track of time!”

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” he reminded. Ladybug watched him step out of the ring of yoyo string when he went for his staff, so she quickly picked up her yoyo and retracted the string. “Well, good night, My Ladybug!” he saluted and began his descent back down the tower.

Still feeling foolish and awkward, Ladybug waved and then threw her yoyo to a nearby building to begin her journey home. She knew she won their little game, but now she just felt bad. It wasn’t very often she made such mistakes as Ladybug, but Ladybug was still Marinette too, and that was exactly the kind of thing Marinette would mess up.

Ladybug dropped into her room and released her transformation. As Marinette, she reached up and closed the skylight. It wasn’t quite summer at night, so her room quickly chilled when she had opened it.

“Oh no, it’s so late, Marinette, you must get to sleep right away!” Tikki said worriedly.

The clock on her phone clearly read 1:37. With a groan, Marinette climbed under the covers and buried her head under them to hide from her shame and embarrassment.

“What’s wrong?” Tikki said from next to her on the pillow.

“I touched Chat inappropriately and it was not okay…”

“You didn’t mean to, and Chat Noir is very understanding,” Tikki said. “Something like this was bound to happen eventually.”

Marinette sighed. Tikki was right. She and Chat Noir collided, tumbled, and smacked into each other all the time in battle. It’s a miracle their hands or other body parts hadn’t ended up in awkward places yet.

Maybe she was more upset because they had been having so much fun and then she ruined it. It was abrupt and obvious. If something like that had happened during battle, it would have been quick and then immediately forgotten about, because their minds would have been focused on everything else with the goal in mind.

“It was just awkward…” Marinette defended. “And I know something like this could happen anytime we collide in battle, but we were just focused on us at the moment there was no reason for it to happen, I just wasn’t mindful.”

“Oh Marinette, you’ll feel better soon enough,” Tikki consoled. “Just try to get some sleep, you have school in the morning, you don’t want to be late.”

Marinette sighed again and then yawned. “You’re Tikki, goodnight.”

For a moment, she wished she could text Chat Noir to double check he was okay, apologize again, and wish him goodnight.

* * *

There were two akuma attacks between then and their next meeting with Master Fu. The heroes didn’t get to talk about anything during those battles other than the usual banter as teammates and some quick strategizing. The battles had been quicker than ever and their nonverbal communication had been all the more clearer. Ladybug found she was better able to calculate Chat Noir’s movements and keep him out of harm’s way a little easier than before.

She did consider that it might have simply been in her head. The two of them could have had good days against particularly easy opponents. If that was not the case, then these results should not be ignored.

By the time their next meeting together with Master Fu came, Marinette had decided.

Once again, she and Chat Noir sat before Master Fu with a privacy screen between them. Tikki sat on her shoulder while Master Fu made tea for them.

“I don’t like this,” Marinette said gesturing the screen. “We shouldn’t have to hide from each other.”

“Ladybug?” Chat Noir’s voice came from the other side.

Master Fu continued to prepare the tea with a gentle smile.

“I gave it a lot of thought, weighed out the pros and cons, and decided we need to be able to communicate outside of battle. We need to train and strategize without relying on luck to run into each other or call the other when we happened to be transformed. Even if I gave you my personal phone number, one missed call sent to voicemail would give away my identity anyway.”

“It’s good that you gave this such consideration, Ladybug,” Master Fu said and placed a cup of tea in front of her, to which she gave a quickly thank you with a bow of her head. He then moved to Chat Noir’s side to place a cup there. She heard him mutter and quick thank you as well.

“We trained _once_ early this week and I could already tell what a difference it made in battle,” Marinette said. “We were more in tune with each other and could communicate nonverbally more efficiently too. I can’t ignore the positive results, so more training outside of actual battle seems like exactly what we need. Which means we also need to be able to coordinate.”

“I guess it is decided then,” Master Fu said. “Are you both in agreement?”

“Yes,” the heroes said with identical nods–not that they could see that.

Tikki on one side of the screen and Plagg on the other side of the screen floated over to the edge, each taking hold of the wooden trim.

“Are you ready for this, kid?” Plagg asked.  

“As ready as I’ll ever be, even if I wasn’t, it’s hard to argue with such sound logic,” Adrien said.

“And are you sure?” Tikki asked to her side.

“Yes,” Marinette repeated firmly.

Tikki and Plagg peeked at each other and nodded. Together they pushed the screen back, removing the barrier between the heroes.

Marinette clammed up and couldn’t look for a moment. Sudden anxieties she hadn’t thought of before came flooding in. What would Chat Noir think? Would he call her a liar for what happened during Evillustrator’s attack? What about her personal dislike of Chloe and Lila and how she was the reason both of them were akumatized? Would he… would he still think she’s amazing and want to be her partner when he finds out how klutzy and absentminded Marinette can be? Why didn’t she think through all this before?

Chat Noir’s chuckle caused her to breathe again. He was _laughing_? At what?

She looked. Her eyes blew wide.

That face. She would recognize it anywhere. Or not, considering their current revelation.

_Adrien Agreste is here? Chat… Chat Noir is… no way!_

He was smiling at her. That cute, little, heart-melting smile! Right there! Three feet away!

“Hi, Marinette,” he finally said with a little wave. If there was anything awkward about his movements, she couldn’t see it.

She took a breath. “Hi, hello, hey…” she said and he just smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their training session was supposed to go a lot differently from my notes, but these kids just like to flirt and do their own thing. Chat was supposed to accidentally boob-grope Ladybug by catching her from behind as she was about to jump away, but that just wouldn’t happen organically, and instead Ladybug almost neutered him... Writing is fun.
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


	5. Sir Sci-fi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette.exe is no longer responding. Submit crash report?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the anime reference late in the chapter.

Superheroes were never a new concept to Paris.

For longer than most know, heroes have been protecting Paris from various dark forces. They had worked from the shadows and under cover in the night. Ask any adult who lived in Paris twenty years ago about heroes other than Ladybug and Chat Noir and what they may recall will be mostly rumors and memories of green, blue, and violet streaks through the night during times of strange happenings. Those are all but forgotten. Many citizens wonder if the stories were even true. Others wonder whatever happened to the mysterious heroes of the night.

Today’s heroes are Ladybug and Chat Noir. Everyone knows them. Supervillains have forced them to appear during the day at the biding of Hawkmoth to lure them out, bringing the heroes into the limelight during an age of social media. Paris has never before been able to see their superheroes up close like this.

However, that doesn’t mean anything is truly known about them.

Who are they?

Alya leaned back in her computer chair, finally taking her eyes off of the Ladyblog. Her Volpina story did not get as many hits as she had hoped. The citizens were happier with the first announcement of the meteorite being an illusion. There had been a few “Volpina the New Superhero” social media posts at the start, but once that was debunked right away, everyone forgot about it and moved on.

Even her live feed of Major Key simply had a spike in popularity before the views nearly diminished completely.

The villain of the week stories seemed to have run their course. Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting the same battle over and over and people just wanted it to be done with. It wasn’t new and terrifying anymore. In fact, as long as an akuma stayed away from their street, people barely paid attention anymore.

“Guess that’s what happens when Ladybug restores everything as soon as it’s over, besides a little disruption to their day, there’s no damages linger to remind everyone of the very real threat out there.” Alya tapped her elbows in thought and then leaned back over her laptop.

She clicked through the files she had collected of the known victims of Hawkmoth, recalling each story as she could. She had been present for many of them. There was even a file for herself as Lady Wifi.

Instead of focusing on Ladybug, maybe it was time to set her sights on the real mystery here.

Maybe… there was some correlation or clue that could lead to Hawkmoth himself…

* * *

“Hi, Marinette,” Adrien had said with a little wave after impossibly long seconds. If there was anything awkward about his movements, Marinette couldn’t see it.

Her kneejerk reaction upon seeing Adrien was to repeat her greeting from when she last spoke to him just outside this very building. The words fell out of her mouth without much thought other than: It’s Adrien, say hi quick!

She took a breath, for she forgot to breathe and said, “Hi, hello, hey…”

He just smiled.

She knew that smile; the little cute smile where he barely showed his two front teeth. It was a smile that did not exist in the magazines on the advertisements. It was just him. That smile belonged to the boy who sat in front of her in class.

This must be a dream. Marinette reasoned. This was a hoax for a reality show. The kind with the hidden cameras and the energetic host that would pop out and tell her she’s been duped but hand her a prize at the same time.

There was no way in this universe could Chat Noir be Adrien Agreste.

But wait…

Wait wait wait wait wait…

In the moments Adrien smiled at her, her whole life was flashing before her eyes. Well, not her whole life, just the last several months since school started this year.

Stormy Weather:  Adrien disappeared from the park.

Evillustrator: Adrien asked if she thought Chat Noir was cool and looked a quite pleased with her answer, which was nonsense, but maybe he heard what he wanted to.

Mr. Pigeon: The feather allergy…

Dark Cupid: Oh god, she kissed him.

Horrificator: Only Adrien’s shoe was found as soon as Chat Noir showed up.

Kung Food… The Gamer… Simon Says… all the strange and familiar excuses of his whereabouts. Chat Noir appeared suspiciously fast once Adrien was out of sight. She had not thought about this before, but now…

**_Volpina._ **

Marinette’s thoughts spun wildly around the most recent events. It was an instant headache to think about the jumping around he must have done to keep his identity secret… but he knew when it was Volpina’s illusions towards the end.

So much has happened. Chat Noir… Adrien…

“The book!” Marinette suddenly yelped.

“Don’t worry about it,” his voice was a little subdued as he stared at her. “It was replaced.”  

Marinette blinked. It was already taken care of? She looked away and stared blankly at the floor. Every memory still thrashed through her mind like a badly edited montage.

Adrien didn’t take his eyes off of her for a second as he mentally traced her profile, seeing Ladybug in every feature. Her eyelashes were dark and thick. Her lips shimmered with a touch of gloss. Her cheeks had little freckles upon them.

Master Fu took it upon himself to speak as the kwami rested on the shoulders of their respective chosen. “It may take time to adjust,” he reminded them. “Remember what you have learned in this room is to stay in this room.”

Marinette took that as a reminder to not scream into the sky.

“What… do we… do now?” she asked carefully, making sure to not see _Adrien_ in her peripheral, otherwise she might lose her ability to speak altogether.

Master Fu smiled at her and then looked to Adrien and cleared his throat pointedly to redirect Adrien’s attention away from the blushing girl beside him. “There is another, besides Hawkmoth, someone even deeper in the shadows, but before you can find them, you must find Hawkmoth. Tikki and Plagg will guide your training while I seek out your possible allies.”

They thought about that information. Great, someone even more hidden than Hawkmoth? How were they going to even start with that?

“Anything else?” Marinette asked.

“For now,” Master Fu started, “I believe you should settle the information you have already gathered today.”

Marinette dropped her gaze again. She had been so mentally prepared today, thinking she would be able to take on anything… except one thing she did not anticipate. Adrien is Chat Noir. This changed everything. After the rapid roller coaster her mind went through, she was suddenly finding it hard to think about anything at all. Her mind just stopped. Master Fu was right, she really did need what she learned today to settle before she could go on.

“Marinette?” Adrien’s voice came from beside her. “Ladybug?” he tried again, this time getting her attention.

“W-w-what, y-yeah?”

“Would you like me to walk you home?”

She felt herself nod without thinking about it. Then she stood as Adrien stood. Before leaving, she wanted to check something. “Master Fu, is there anything important we need to know today?” she asked.

Master Fu stroked his beard in thought for a second. “The Ladybug and Black Cat balance and support each other more than any other Miraculous, so if you feel yourself doubting, work through it together instead of alone.”

Marinette was not sure what to make of that but nodded anyway.

“Thank you, Master Fu,” Adrien said. “We’ll be back soon.”

“Good day, all of you,” he bid them.

Adrien opened the door for her and she left as Tikki flew into her purse and shut it and he opened his outer shirt for Plagg to hide as well. All this time and he assumed the purse she always carried was just for her smartphone and stuff. He wasn’t even sure if he had ever seen her take it off. If it hid her kwami, he supposed that was reason enough to always wear it.

They reached the street and he strode beside her towards her home. As he watched her, his gaze settled on her earrings, her Miraculous. “Huh,” he suddenly said and she jerked to a stop and froze on the sidewalk.

He wondered if she forgot about him. She mumbled some syllables he didn’t understand, which really said something considering the languages he’s learned.

“I was just thinking,” Adrien decided to say. “You’ve been hiding in plain sight all this time, I didn’t even notice you wore earrings until now,” he said with a chuckle behind his hand. “Amazing.”

“M-me?” she stuttered for a moment and then suddenly looked focused. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Adrien tilted his head to the side and shoved his hands into his pockets.  

“You know…” she looked around and then pointed to an advertisement down the street, one with him on it.

“Oh yeah…” he trailed off.

“And you’re so…” she looked at her feet and when she didn’t continue for a few seconds, Adrien leaned down to catcher her gaze.

“So what? Tell me,” he said with a smiled.

Marinette huffed and shrugged, finally looking up at him as he straightened. “I don’t even know, just so… different?”

Adrien blinked. “Different how?” He was surprised to see her face flush instead.

“I’m not so sure…” she admitted and then squinted at him. “Come here,” she waved him down to lean over just a little more like she was going to speak quietly.

Instead he found her hands in his hair. He froze and resisted the urge to lean even closer and close his eyes. “What…?”

“Shush,” she cut him off and he obeyed, waiting until she was done. Her fingers worked to undo the product in his hair, causing locks of hair to crunch as they separated and moved.

Adrien really had to resist the shiver that tingled under his skin as her fingers brushed over his ears. His lips had parted involuntarily and had to force himself to remember they were outside on the sidewalk before he could lean closer. He would let her do whatever she wanted, but he also prayed it would be over soon.

When she finally pulled her hands away, he saw her cover her mouth. He quirked an eyebrow while she stared at him. It wasn’t until he caught his reflection in a window behind her that he caught on.

His hand shot up to push his hair back over to the side and sweep his bangs across his forehead. “I uh will be scolded when I get home if anyone thinks I was unkempt today.”

“S-sorry!” she said. “But it’s you, for real.”

Adrien blinked at her again. “Well yeah…” He thought about it for a moment and then snapped his fingers with an idea. “I’m _paw_ sitive, My Lady, are mew _fur_ real? Purr-lease, there’s only one cat as clawsome as meow.”

Adrien then witnessed something beautiful. Marinette’s face shifted into deadpanned first, already about to cross her arms in disgust at him and then she paused for a moment before her hands came up to cover her laugh instead.

“You’ve cat to be kitten me!” he added dramatically. “My Lady really had doubts? Meowch!”

Marinette playfully shoved him and continued to giggle. “Can you blame me? This isn’t weird to you?”

Adrien shrugged his shoulder. “I’d be lying if I said I don’t feel a little dumb for not picking up on like, anything, but I guess that was actually a good thing.”

Marinette nodded. “Yeah… you’re right, it means we were doing what we were supposed to do.”

Without prompt, they resumed walking until they reached the bakery.

“Hey uh, Marinette?” Adrien started before Marinette could say goodbye. “You have my number, right?” he asked.

Marinette nodded. “We had that one assignment together and I left you a message…”

“R-right…” Adrien scratched at the back of his head. “So uh, if I call you later or we say, meet in the park tomorrow for a while to talk some more, would you be able to do that?”

Marinette simply blinked for a second and then squeaked loudly. She nodded rapidly for a second and then froze. Adrien wondered if she remembered being busy instead. She schooled her face and then nodded once more.

“Sure,” she said, a bit more Ladybug-like than he had seen her today. “You can call me just about any time, especially if there’s an akuma, but text might be easier for that… um… as far as tomorrow, just send me a message later and we’ll decide when to meet.”

Adrien smiled and nodded. “Sure thing, I’ll talk to you later, Marinette.”

“Bye, Adrien.” They waved to each other as he walked away. She had to slap her own hand to stop waving and go inside.

Her mother, Sabine Cheng, just finished ringing up a customer and bid them a good day. When the customer left, they were the only ones in the store front.

“Was that Adrien just a moment ago?” Sabine smiled widely as Marinette’s shoulders shot up.

“Y-yeah.”

“Are you two still getting along?” Sabine asked leadingly.

“Moooom…”Marinette whined. “We were just talking…”

“Oh I see, well when you two are a little more official, be sure to bring him over for dinner.”

Marinette paled a little. “Uh-huh, sure,” she said mechanically. Her mother gave her a strange look as Marinette excused herself to go upstairs.

She climbed up into her room and closed the door, ready to climb into bed for a while. Standing after the door shut, she froze, simply gazing at the walls. Tikki flew out of the purse and looked at Marinette.

“What’s wrong, Marinette?” she asked.

Marinette hesitated. “Nothing’s wrong… it’s just… maybe I should redecorate?”

Tikki turned to look at the many magazine photos of Adrien all over the walls. “Why is that?”

Marinette lifted an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t want a certain cat’s ego to burst if he ever saw this,” she mused and Tikki giggled.

One by one, the pictures came down and she felt a little more silly and sad in a way with each one. They were gathered into a spare folder, so she could put it away once she was done. She didn’t want to throw them out.

“It was silly of me to collect so many,” she said aloud. “I don’t even remember what I was thinking when I started putting these up.”

“That he was too cuuuute?” Tikki offered.

Marinette laughed in spite of herself. “Well, he’s Chat now, and I probably shouldn’t gush over my partner’s other self…”

Tikki noticed Marinette trail off. “What’s wrong?”

Marinette shook her head. “Just… feeling kind of dumb,” she admitted. “It’s embarrassing, all this time–” she cut herself off with a huff as she plopped down in her desk chair.

“Don’t feel bad, Marinette,” Tikki consoled. “Just because Adrien isn’t exactly who you thought he was and because Chat Noir was a lot closer than you thought, it doesn’t mean it should get you down, look at this as an opportunity.”

“Opportunity?”

“To get to know both Adrien and Chat Noir better, just like you have wanted.”

Because Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir were the same person. Half the effort on her part. She already knew a little about both, and therefore more than she thought about him, her partner–no, her friend.

Marinette nodded. “You’re right, Tikki, I’ll need to look at this objectively and use my head, but these feelings are only going to have to be put on the back burner until I figure this out.”

“I believe in you!”

Marinette smiled. “Thanks Tikki, I just need to…” she had turned on her computer and was met with her Heart Adrien desktop wallpaper. “I need to make a new wallpaper,” she said with a laugh and opened Photoshop.

She and Tikki spent the next hour picking out photos from the school year to make a new collage of memories with her friends. Adrien was there too, but so were Alya, Nino, Rose, Max, and the rest of the class, aside from Chloe and Sabrina; they were in only in the background of a couple shots.

“Wow, Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed. “Look at all the great memories you have made this year!”

Marinette smiled as she saved the image file and applied it as her desktop wallpaper, replacing the pink Adrien one. “Yeah, this year has been pretty great,” she said. “Ever since I stood up to Chloe on the second day of school, met Alya, and got to know Adrien… my school life has changed for the better, even with the tardiness as Ladybug,” she mused.

Tikki giggled. “That’s good to hear!”

“Now that that’s done,” Marinette said and opened her browser to livestream the news.

**Breaking News!**

“Oh…” Marinette sighed, knowing what that report was about to say.

Nadia appeared on camera with a photo of an akuma villain in the upper corner. “This just in, reports of terror near the Eiffel Tower are pouring in, the supervillain calling himself Sir Sci-fi has created a force field and is trapping young women within. Reporters are unable to get close enough to question as laser beams are preventing anyone from getting near…”

The report went on as Marinette reached for her smartphone and pulled up her contacts, finding Adrien’s name at the top in the alphabetical list. She sent him a text as she climbed up the step ladder to her bed and skylight.

After pocketing her phone, she called for Tikki and her transformed.

Ladybug raced to the Eiffel Tower and could see the force field the report mention. It was a large pink and transparent dome with the villain and his captives inside. Not good.

As soon as she landed nearby, floating silver orbs shot lasers at her, forcing her to dodge away.

“I thought _I_ was supposed to have cat-like reflexes!” Chat Noir called from the roof above her. He hopped down and landed next to Ladybug. “Looks like we’ll have to get rid of those things before we can get close enough to destroy the force field,” he said.

Ladybug nodded. “I have an idea, have you ever played Mecha-Mecha Battle Bosses?”

“Who do you think I am, of course!” he said with a grin, but it quickly dropped at the surprised look she gave him. Right, revealed earlier that day, must still be shocked about it.

“Then you remember level three, right?” Ladybug chose to ask.

Chat Noir thought about it for a couple seconds as he surveyed the battle before them. Then he snapped his fingers. “Gotacha!” he said and split his staff in two to give one to Ladybug.

They fumbled. He tried to give it to her closer hand, but that was holding her yoyo, so she had reached for it with her other hand at first, but then realized the other hand was closer and switched her yoyo to her other hand, making him go back and forth for a second before just holding still and waiting for her to take it.

Ladybug placed her yoyo back on her hip instead before taking the offered staff. “Thanks.”

“Alright, batter up!” Chat Noir exclaimed and vaulted high up and towards one of the silver balls. It had turned to aim at him approaching but was instantly smacked with the staff and into the force field, exploding against it.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing!?” Sir Sci-fi screamed. “My security bot!”

The explosion caught the attention of the women trapped inside and they called for help.

“Don’t worry ladies, your knight in shining leather is here! We’ll get you out of there,” he called to them and dodged another security bot assault.

Ladybug didn’t like that wave of jealously she felt after what she just heard. She shook it from her mind and waited for Chat Noir to kick one of the bots to her, where she was ready to bat it back into the force field. As it exploded, the entire force field flashed.

Ladybug and Chat Noir smirked at that as Sir Sci-fi screamed at them.

Chat Noir made the remaining bot chase him as he weaved and dodged its lasers. Ladybug then intercepted it and batted it at the force field, this time it was unable to recover and went down completely.

“How dare you!” Sir Sci-fi screamed and rose up on his hover board as the young women ran for it. “Those were MY princesses! Not yours!”

“Hate to break it to you, but I only have one princess in my life, and I’m pretty sure none of those ladies agreed to be held captive,” Chat Noir taunted. “Ladybug, my staff,” he held out his hand and she gave it back.

As he reconnected the two, she summoned a Lucky Charm.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked as they looked at the red and black spotted roll of toilet paper that landed in her hands.

“Um… I’m not going to answer that,” Chat Noir covered his mouth to hide his laugh. Ladybug slid him a withering look and he looked away innocently.

To think this boy is Adrien Agreste.

“Just… distract him and get him down,” she said through her teeth. “We need to find the akuma.”

Chat Noir looked a little sheepish as he saluted her and leapt off. Ladybug took a focusing breath. She had a job to do.

For the moment, she had to find where the akuma was hidden. The akuma victim seemed like a young man, maybe a college student. Guess he was having girl-problems if the kidnapping of “princesses” was anything to go by. His outfit was sleek and silver with a matching visor of his eyes which glowed red.

The only other thing he had was the hover board he stood upon, that must be it.

Chat Noir knocked him around in the air, but the hover board remained attached to his feet. Then Chat Noir seemed to come to same conclusion on his own and tried to grab the hover board, even if only to ground Sir Sci-fi. Grabbing it, he managed to detach one of his feet, but was flung away, landing on the ground and sliding on his claws and feet.

Spots flashed clues in Ladybug’s vision. Sir Sci-fi, a lamp post, a trashcan, and back to the lucky charm, the toilet paper.

“Chat Noir! Detach that trashcan and wait for my signal!” she called.

“On it!” he said and ran to the trashcan she pointed to. It was bolted to the ground. Ladybug distracted Sir Sci-fi for him to focus. “Cataclysm!” He swiped his claws across the bottom of the trash can, severing it from the ground so he picked up. “Ready?”

Ladybug stopped and readied her stance. “Hey Sir Sci-fi, do you think I could be a princess? I am known as _Lady Luck_.”

Chat Noir’s eyes narrowed. What was she saying? What was she doing?

Sir Sci-fi stopped. “Princess Ladybug has a good ring to it, and if I marry _Princess_ Ladybug, I’ll finally be princely!”

Chat Noir threw the trashcan, startling Ladybug since she hadn’t gave the signal yet. Sir Sci-fi yelped and slammed into the lamp post beside him. She had to act fast. Without thinking, she tossed her yoyo to the top of the lamp post after him and spun around it as the toilet paper unraveled, tying Sir Sci-fi to the post.

Ladybug went around and round, covering his body and even his face. He wasn’t able to move. Then she dropped to the ground and snatched the hover board from his barely visible feet before he could use it to help himself out.

She broke it against the ground and the akuma fluttered out. “No more evil doing for you little akuma…”

With a spin and toss, she captured the akuma and purified it before sending it on its merry way. Then she grabbed the leftover inner roll from the toilet paper and tossed it up. “Miraculous Ladybug!” The magic repaired the damage done by the lasers and Cataclysm. All that was left was a confused victim on the ground.

“W-what?”

“Everything is okay now,” Ladybug said as she kneeled down. “Whatever has got you down won’t stay this way forever, things will get better.”

The young man, wearing a university t-shirt, sniffed and nodded. “She left me, they always do.”

Ladybug offered him a warm smile. “You’ll find someone, be patient,” she offered. “Maybe carry a lucky charm and you’ll finally meet the girl you’re waiting for,” she added with a wink.

He finally gave a chuckled and nodded.

With the situation remedied, Ladybug turned her attention to Chat Noir. “You. Come on,” she said forcefully and he stiffened, knowing he was in trouble.

Ladybug zipped away using her yoyo and Chat Noir followed with his staff. He recognized where she was taking him. The roof of their school was well covered from the streets.

When they landed, both of their Miraculouses beeped in warning. They still had a few minutes and they lived nearby, her more so than him by a mere two blocks.

“What was that? You didn’t wait for my signal!” Ladybug scolded. She could hardly believe she was taking this tone with Adrien. A part of her was screaming stop before she ruined everything.

“Sorry, I know,” he said.

“What were you thinking?”

“I just didn’t like the way he was looking at you, like some kind of object,” he admitted without hesitation.

Ladybug didn’t know how to respond. Instead she sighed. “I knew what I was doing,” she said quietly.

“I know,” he said. “At least it worked out.”

Ladybug shrugged. “I guess so, it’s just…”

“What?”

“We’re a team, and we were working so well before we… you know.”

Chat Noir scratched the back of his head with a light blush under his mask. “We’ll figure it out, LB, it’s just new and I can’t help it if I want to protect Marinette too.”

Ladybug blushed this time and turned away. “It was the princess-thing, wasn’t it?”

Chat Noir chuckled. “Sorry, I know it’s dumb, you probably don’t even like the nickname.. I mean I had no idea you were Ladybug when I called you that before.”

“Look, I…” she spoke without thinking and wasn’t sure where she was going. He already said he was sorry and they were still getting used to their new dynamic. They were still a team. Nothing would change that. “I didn’t mind, since it was you,” she said.

Their Miraculouses beeped again.

“I have to get going,” he said. “I was thinking about calling you tonight, but since we’re here, I’ll just ask, can you still meet me in the park tomorrow so we can talk?”

Ladybug nodded. “What time?”

“Nine?” he offered.

“That early?”

“Oh? How about ten instead?” he asked.

“You know tomorrow is a weekend right? Don’t you sleep in?”

“I do, but how about you suggest the time.”

Ladybug pursed her lips, now a little self-conscious now about how late she wanted to sleep. “Eleven?”

“Sounds good, LB, I’ll meet you at the fountain, see ya.” He saluted with two fingers and made his exit.

* * *

Adrien made it home and plopped down on the couch in his room with an arm over his eyes. The window was closed so it was quiet again, save for Plagg. The kwami licked and gobbled up camembert noisily.

“You might want to look into doing something about that jealously of yours,” Plagg finally spoke after several minutes.

“Hm,” Adrien responded.

“What? You’re not going to deny it?”

“Why should I?” Adrien sighed and then sat up, still slumped against the cushions. “You’re right, because I acted when I did I could have messed up everything, Ladybug was right to be mad.”

“I don’t think she was mad, just surprised,” Plagg said as if it was obvious. “You have to admit, it’s not really like you to do something aggressive like that, especially when following a plan.”

“Yeah I know,” Adrien said and got up, moving to his desk, where a few items were sitting out from before he received the message about the akuma. “Remember when Ladybug mentioned to that guy about carrying around a lucky charm?”

“Why?” Plagg responded.

“I have an idea.”

* * *

Marinette wasn’t sure what she was going to say to Adrien, but he was waiting at the fountain in the park just like he said he would. She could see him sitting there as she approached. He was resting his arms on his knees while he typed on his smartphone with both hands. The sun highlighted his hair and he was no longer wearing his white over shirt. Seeing him made her stomach flutter.

It had been easier when she had it her mind that she was going to see Chat Noir. When faced with Adrien, looking calm and handsome as always, it was suddenly something to be nervous about. 

Marinette cursed the ladybugs in her stomach making her feel this way. He was Chat Noir for heaven’s sake! She should not be getting nervous, or excited, or whatever it was she was feeling around Chat Noir! He was her partner. No, he was her friend. It was because of that, because he was her friend that she swallowed her fears and came out to see him.

“H-hey,” Marinette said to get his attention.

Adrien looked up with a smile. “Hey,” he said. “Glad you could come, want to sit with me?” he asked and gestured next to him.

Marinette nodded and sat down, pulling her purse into her lap as she did so. They were quiet as Adrien put his phone down next to him and turned to angle himself towards her a little.

“It sure is hot today,” he said casually. Like him, she had left her usual jacket at home. It was a t-shirt day under the clear blue sky and no wind to speak of.

“Yeah, it really is,” she agreed. They fell into silence again for what was only seconds, but it felt longer.

“I’m sorry, I don’t really know what to say,” he said with an apologetic smile.

Marinette gave a small laugh. “I know what you mean, it’s… it’s weird.”

“On one hand, I feel I know you so well, but on the other it’s like I barely know you,” he said. “It isn’t fair, I mean, we have hung out before and are in the same class, you would think this would have been easier.”

She was relieved to hear that. “I completely understand, I feel the same way,” she said and he looked relieved as well.

“Anyway, I figured we should hang out more,” Adrien said. “We have things in common, so I’m sure we can find something to do or talk about while we get used to this.”

He was seeking to bridge the gap in their relationship created by their identities. The logical side of Marinette’s mind knew that. The teenaged hormonal side of her mind was screaming that it would be like a date. Her logical side jumped back in to remind her that everything she knew about Adrien and Chat Noir said he would not sneak a date out of this situation. He was honest.

“I’m glad it was you,” he said suddenly. Marinette looked at him but he was looking at his hands on his knees. “It’s kind of funny actually, I even suspected you once,” he said.

“Really?”

Adrien nodded. “Then Ladybug showed up when you were standing right next to me, so I thought it couldn’t be anyone in our class, since we were all there.”

Marinette realized he was thinking about the race between Kim and Alix when Ladybug was sent back in time with Timebreaker. Perhaps Alya was in the same boat when it came to ruling out everyone in class.

“When Alya found that text book, I was looking pretty closely,” he said. “I tried not to, but I couldn’t help but look for her–you sometimes.”

“I know that feeling,” she admitted. “Sometimes, I couldn’t help but wonder.”

“When I found out, things made sense, and I felt a little dumb for not realizing it sooner,” he said and laughed. “Oh and look,” he said and picked up his phone and she saw a familiar green and pink charm dangling from the device. “I turned the lucky charm you gave me into a phone charm.”

Marinette smiled widely. “That’s neat, I didn’t even think of that,” she said.

Adrien put his phone back down on the edge of the fountain so he could reach deep into the front pocket of his jeans. “When I put it on my phone, I got an idea that you could use one too, but since I can’t make a lucky charm, I went shopping this morning instead and got you this,” he said and lifted a shiny pink letter M charm with a glittery white bead above it hanging from a phone charm adaptor.

Marinette’s mouth hung open when she looked at it and then at him. “You got this for me?” she asked and he nodded. She held out both hands so he could place it into her waiting palms.

“You gave me something already, so I thought you should have something from me too, since we’re friends,” he said. “I might turn your lucky charm into a keychain for my book bag still, but I wanted to try this first so I could take it everywhere with me,” he said and chuckled. “I hope that’s not weird.”

“N-no, it’s not, I think that’s really sweet of you to do all this,” she said. She took her phone out of her purse and attached the charm. “It’s cute, I can’t wait to show Alya,” she said with a big smile. “Thank you,” she said and turned to give him a hug, momentarily forgetting that this was not just any friend, but also _the_ Adrien Agreste she was about to touch. By the time she remembered, she was already wrapping her arms about his shoulders and he looked surprised. “OH! Sorry!” she jolted back.

As she reared back, her arms flailed, and her foot kicked out, nearly kicking him in the knee, but missing everything she could have possibly reached for as she fell.

When he saw she was going to fall, Adrien reached for her. He caught her wrist, but she was already doomed. She fell back into the fountain and pulled him with her, creating a large splash with water falling over the edge.

Adrien had landed right next to her on his free hand and one leg still hanging over the edge of the fountain. He was first to recover. “Are you alright?” he said as he pushed himself up, stepping into the water fully to offer her a hand.

She turned so she sat on her rear and hands, before lifting her wet hand to take his. “Y-yeah…” she sighed. “Just… sorry,” she said.

“It’s just water,” he said and pulled her to her feet. “Besides, I’m always being told that I’m dripping with good looks,” he said cheekily.

She had to swallow her laugh before it could come out. “Did you just quote Ouran?” Marinette squinted at him as his smiled broke into a grin. It was a familiar grin, but somehow still foreign on his face. Even so, Marinette could not help but smile as she pulled her hand away. “Weeb,” she said and climbed out of the water.

“Hey, Ouran is a classic now.” Adrien stepped out too. “Oh, the water completely missed my phone,” he pointed out. “Guess the lucky charm really works!” He bent to pick it up and then shook out his hair a little before combing it back with his free hand as he turned to Marinette with a smile, causing her breath to catch in her throat and her stomach to flutter again.

Adrien looked like he was about to say something when his smile suddenly fell and his eyes shot up and over her head. “Something wrong?” Marinette asked as she rubbed her arm with one hand from both the chill of the water and nervousness.

“Um, I guess you need to go home now so you can change?” Adrien said stiffly.

Marinette knew her clothes were soaked as they clung to her to body uncomfortably. When she looked down, she realized the white of her shirt had become see-through. Her grey bra with pink polka dots showed clearly through the fabric and Adrien kept his gaze away. She covered her chest by crossing her arms over it, sufficiently hiding her undergarments from view. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” she squeaked.

“It’s okay, it was an accident,” he said with his eyes still fixed over her head. “I live just around the block, I can just run home and change,” he added. His clothes also clung to him, but since he was wearing black, it was not unlike when he was Chat Noir.

They said quick and awkward goodbyes before leaving. She cursed her luck. It was finally going well and she ruined it.

Somehow, through it all, she managed to not drop the charm he gave her. When she opened her fist, it was still there. Thanks to her foresight, her purse was fairly waterproof, sparing both Tikki and her smartphone from her fall into the fountain.

Once she got back to her room, before she even changed, she opened her purse and put the charm on her phone.

“Oh, it’s pretty!” Tikki said. “You can tell he was really thinking about you.”

“Yeah, it’s perfect.” Marinette pulled off her wet clothes and changed quickly. Then she undid her hair and brushed it. “I wonder what Alya is going to say when she notices it?”

Tikki giggled at that. “A gift from Adrien? Girl, he’s totally into you!” she mimicked.

Marinette laughed. “That’s so Alya!”

“Do you think Adrien will ask you back to the park when he’s done changing?” Tikki asked.

“Hm? I don’t think so, I mean, he didn’t say anything…” Marinette said. “I think I might have messed it up too much, we didn’t even get to really talk.”

“While it would be great for you two to spend time together, you both have cell phones to talk with,” Tikki reminded.

“You’re right, I’ll call him tonight after dinner,” she said. “Don’t let me chicken out.”

Marinette’s day continued as an ordinary weekend. She got to relax, do some reading homework, text Alya, browse the internet, and eat with her family.

Turned out she didn’t need Tikki’s help to call Adrien. He called her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading everyone! 
> 
> Now that I’ve posted a 2-5 chapters of each of my fics, I have analyzed how well received each one is based on the comments and number of views per chapter. This was not my most popular fic. I was a little disappointed to discover this, but not surprised. I spent months putting together the outline of this fic and doing the “pre-production”, but my most popular fic is essentially a random idea I had at like 1am and just started writing without a clue where it was going at the beginning. Figures, right? Lol. (I’ve been posting fanfics off and on for 9 years, and I’ve had this happen before.) Now maybe it was because the tone of each of my current ML fics is quite different, and Fluff may be more popular right now. Who knows. So this message is to explain that I may focus more of my writing-time to the more popular fics instead and whatever strikes my muse and instead of keeping a schedule. 
> 
> Worry not about leaving this fic hanging, because if I choose not to work on it for a long time I’ll mark it “on hiatus” in the summary and tags, and then “discontinued” if I will not be working on it and may delete it.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~ EDIT: Officially Discontinued due to dropped interest in source material. ~~~~~~~~


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